Joy Behar Slammed For Crude Adult Joke About The Late Barbara Walters

The View co-host Joy Behar is in hot water over some crude comments she made about the late Barbara Walters.

Ellie Mason

Oct 4, 2023

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The View co-host Joy Behar is in hot water over some crude comments she made about the late Barbara Walters. Walters and Behar were friends for years. But their bond hasn’t absolved reality TV host Behar of backlash after she cracked a joke on Tuesday’s show that many found shocking and inappropriate. Here’s what Behar had to say about her deceased friend.

Joy Makes NSFW Observation About Going Bald In An Unexpected Place

Joy Behar wasn’t just making crude observations about Barbara Walters during this week’s The View episodes. She was also talking about aging and going bald in an unexpected place. On Wednesday’s show, Behar and her co-hosts were talking about the challenges of keeping up with ever-changing beauty standards. In today’s world, it can seem like a ceaseless pursuit that you can’t possibly win.

But Behar had a humorous observation about an unlikely aspect of aging: going bald “down there.” As the hosts discussed Pamela Anderson’s decision to appear at Paris Fashion Week without makeup, things got a little off track. Sunny Hostin turned to Behar and said, “You told me as you get older, that hair down there and everywhere else goes gray or bald.” The table erupted in shocked laughter. 54-year-old Hostin then explained that she has undergone “medieval-type procedures” to avoid the shock of graying and going bald below the belt.

Behar asked her co-host what other methods she has used to remove pubic hair, mistakenly referring to hair-removal cream as “alopecia.” She asked Hostin, “What, are you putting alopecia on it? What are you doing? I mean, that stuff they put on there, what is it called?” A bemused Behar then corrected herself; “Not alopecia! Alopecia is what happens! But what’s the thing they put on there to let the hair grow?’

Hostin confirmed that she had removed all hair, and said that she had taken the drastic step due to Behar’s warning about the process of aging. Co-host Sara Haines then chimed in to ask if pubic hair falls out naturally on its own. Behar quipped, “What? The hair down there? Yes, you get bald. So what? Who needs it?”

Joy Behar Receives Criticism For Crude Joke About The Late Barbara Walters

And of course, Joy Behar’s comments about below-the-belt aging are completely in line with her on-air persona. But if you back things up a day to Tuesday’s episode of The View, she took it a little farther than even she’s used to.

It all started when Spice Girl Geri Halliwell shared a sweet memory she has of Barbara Walters, legendary journalist and former The View co-host. Halliwell shared, “Barbara, she’s an amazing lady. She taught me one thing, she said [she] had a camera smile that she uses, and I always still use this piece of advice. She said when you’re in front of a camera, you notice how you feel a bit stiff, and she always goes, ‘Ahh.’ You look into the camera and go, ‘Ahh.’ You get the right kind of smile. That’s the Barbara smile.”

Halliwell recalled that Walters’ signature smile was slightly open-mouthed. To which Behar quipped, “She did it every time she took a photograph. It has to have the mouth open. Well, those are from her porn days.”

The table reacted with shock and the audience audibly gasped. Alyssa Farrah Griffith blurted, “Oh my God.” Behar, seeming to realize she had floored the room, quickly responded, “They know it’s a joke.” Behar clarified that she was kidding about Walters’ “porn days” and Sara Haines said it was time to “move on” to another topic. But the internet wasn’t feeling her explanation.

Fans took to social media to express shock and disgust with the low-blow humor. Many called it “disrespectful.” Others, however, seemed to think that it was the kind of celeb-related humor Walters herself shared and that she would have appreciated it. Behar has not offered any more of an explanation since the reality show’s segment aired.