Star Jones was one of the original hosts on The View when it premiered in 1997, and her time spent working on the show was (as long-time fans well know) not always smooth sailing. Since she and the show parted ways in 2006, Jones has occasionally spoken out about the backstage drama she experienced, as well as her views on her coworkers. In one interview, she even claimed that one host of The View didn't like a single one of her co-stars. Read on to find out who Jones was talking about, and for more on uncomfortable experiences that happened on set, check out This Was the Worst Guest The View Ever Had, Former Host Says.
Joy Behar wasn't very chummy with her co-hosts, Jones said.
Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for Women's DayJoy Behar was in the original lineup of the show, along with Jones, Meredith Vieira, Debbie Matenopoulous, and Barbara Walters. Behar and Jones together also crossed over with hosts Lisa Ling and Elizabeth Hasselbeck, who joined the program later. But, unlike Jones, Behar can also say that she's worked with almost every single other co-host of The View, having been on the talk show since its debut, aside from a two-year break.
During a June 2017 appearance on Watch What Happens Live, Cohen asked Jones which co-star Behar "has disliked the most," out of all her past and current co-panelists.
"All of us," Jones responded. To clarify, Cohen asked whether Jones really thought that Behar "doesn't enjoy" any of her co-hosts, and Jones doubled down.
"She loves us, but she doesn't like us," she said. She also added that, even though she didn't think that Behar liked her, they were close enough that Jones "picked out" Behar's home in the Hamptons for her.
And for more daytime feuds, check out This Former The View Host Says Whoopi Goldberg "Really Didn't Like" Her.
Behar said that wasn't true.
Santiago Felipe/Getty ImagesBehar was a WWHL guest a month later, and a caller asked if what Jones said about her not liking her co-hosts was true.
"How does [Jones] know that?" Behar said. "That's completely ridiculous."
She went on to give what she thought was a possible reason for Jones' comment, saying, "She's jealous because I was really attached to Meredith [Vieira], that's all."
Cohen asked her if Jones was jealous because she wanted to be closer friends with Vieira, and Behar said she didn't know. Behar then reiterated that the comment was inaccurate, in her eyes.
"I was friendly with everybody,"Behar continued. "I don't know what she's talking about...That I did not like any of my co-hosts, that's what she said?....What type of fake news is that?"
For more drama between co-hosts, check out Meghan McCain Never Wants to Work With This The View Host Again.
Jones claimed that Behar leaked personal information about her.
lev radin/ShutterstockJones was one of the View hosts who spoke to author Ramin Setoodeh for the tell-all book, Ladies Who Punch: The Explosive Story of "The View." When he was on WWHL in March 2019, Setoodeh said that Jones told him she believed that Behar and Walters had shared personal information about her with the press without her permission.
"Star Jones said as she was being fired in 2006, both Barbara Walters and Joy Behar were leaking stories about her gastric bypass to the New York Post to ruin her reputation," Setoodeh said.
Back in 2006, Jones surprised her co-hosts by announcing her departure from The View ahead of schedule. Walters said, per The New York Times, that research had determined that the "audience was losing trust in her," which was why ABC had decided not to renew her contract for a 10th season. Jones underwent gastric bypass surgery in 2003, but wasn't ready to open up about it publicly until 2007, which she explained in an essay for Glamour.
People reported that neither Behar nor Walters commented on Jones' claims that they fed stories to the media. Jones issued a statement after Setoodeh's WWHL appearance saying that being on The View "was one of the great opportunities of [her] lifetime" and that Walters was one of her "most influential mentors." The statement didn't include any reference to Behar.
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Jones still has respect for all of her former co-hosts, however.
Kathy Hutchins/ShutterstockDuring the same WWHL episode, a caller asked Jones which host from The View was the worst on air. Jones shut that question down by explaining that all of her co-hosts were very well-prepared.
"I worked with some of the very best people there are in television," she said. "Meredith Vieira sat to my right, for nine years, Barbara sat to my left, Joy is still there...They're all working and doing very well. So I would look like an idiot to say something mean about those girls, and I never would."
For a guest who probably won't be asked back, check out Whoopi Goldberg Says This Guest Called The View Hosts an Awful Name.
