When ‘The View’ Audience Was Stunned Over Guest’s Crude Jokes About Joy Behar’s 80th B’Day

On a episode of the popular daytime talk show The View, 'Triumph The Insult Comic Dog' appeared as the guest of honor for the Hot Topics segment. During the conversation, Joy Behar's age was the subject of a crude joke from Robert Smigel, the voice behind the puppet. Smigel revealed that he had attended the political commentator's 80th birthday party last year, "Did you have a good time?" Behar inquired.

The dog puppet replied: "Oh that was tremendous. I was at Joy Behar's 80th birthday party. I performed. Oh, what a night it was. It was an open bar and an open casket." The studio crowd let out an audible gasp in unison upon hearing the jab. The View co-hosts too were taken aback by the crude humor and exclaimed, "Oh!"After being startled for a moment, Behar rolled her eyes at the joke about her age.

"Joy you and I got so drunk, you and I were fighting over who got to sniff Hilary Clinton's chair," the puppet dog continued. Co-host Sara Haines covered her mouth in shock as the comedian's fell open."You look beautiful. She still looks beautiful, doesn't she? 81 years old now." "Why do you keep saying my age?" Behar remarked with irritation as the joke concluded.

As per The US Sun, the light moment occurred right in the middle of a heated debate between Behar and co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin about reproductive rights. "I want to remind people about Trump who is the presumptive nominee for the Republican party. He described himself in 1999 and 2000 as pro-choice. You know he was pro-choice in the old days, okay?" the seasoned writer stated as she continued. "But when running in 2016 - I saw this on television - there has to be some form of punishment for women who have abortions he said."

However, Griffin interrupted Behar saying: "And he was rarely condemned by pro-lifers." the political commentator did not appear pleased with the sudden disruption, she shouted back: "Okay! He has walked that back a little but can you trust that man? I don't think so."

When the other co-hosts tried to reason Behar interrupted them all by yelling that it was time for a commercial break: "Please! Please!" and dismissing the rest with a wave of her hand. The veteran comedian aggressively tore up her cue cards and flung them into the air, demonstrating how offended she was by the conversation. 

As reported by ABC News, she spent sixteen years as a member of ABC's The View original cast before returning in September 2015 to co-host the program's last three seasons. Behar is the winner of three MAC awards, a CableACE Award, and a 2000 GLAAD Award for her continuing connection with the LGBTQ+ community. She also won the 2009 Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Talk Show Host.

Editor's note: This article was originally published on December 9, 2023. It has since been updated.