Sometimes it may be better to speak a little less, rather than fill the silence with unnecessary, poorly thought out comments.
This is a lesson Joy Behar, an American comedian and television host, learned very recently. Behar, one of the hosts of The View, a talk show currently in its 25th season, made a comment on the show about the ongoing conflict in Ukraine that riled up people online.
But there’s a chance her words were taken out of context.
You almost have to respect Joy Behar\u2019s unwavering commitment toward ensuring that boomers are the most hated generation alivepic.twitter.com/fw0cgEwc4I— Ida Tavakoli (@Ida Tavakoli) 1645741850
The episode on Thursday of last week of the ABC daytime talk show had the hosts discussing the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. Co-host Sonny Hostin was commenting on the massive Ukrainian casualties and potential for a refugee crisis.
Behar then commented:
“Well, I’m scared of what’s going to happen in Western Europe, too. You know, you plan a trip, you want to go there.”
“I wanted to go to Italy for four years. I haven’t been able to make it because of the pandemic—and now this. It’s like, what’s going to happen there?”
This was all social media needed to hear to start piling on Behar. And it seems pretty understandable.
Why is she worried about vacation plans when people in Ukraine are fighting for their lives?
Just wow!!! The privilege and selfishness is too much.https://twitter.com/Independent/status/1497185300862410758\u00a0\u2026— Celeste aka "Good Trouble" (@Celeste aka "Good Trouble") 1645792147
It\u2019s virtually impossible to overstate the stupidity, lack of empathy, self absorbed comments by Joy Behar on The View.. It\u2019s unfortunate that her travel plans to Italy have been delayed by first, a global pandemic and subsequently unrest, upheaval, war & loss of life in Ukraine— Guy Adami (@Guy Adami) 1645818389
Really... a vacation, right now?— venissacolor.redhd\ud83c\uddef\ud83c\uddf2 (@venissacolor.redhd\ud83c\uddef\ud83c\uddf2) 1645792556
No self reflection whatsoever.— Frank DeLucia (@Frank DeLucia) 1645793285
breaks my hearthttps://twitter.com/nypost/status/1497187654391242767\u00a0\u2026— mona tracey (@mona tracey) 1645809990
However, the vacation comment was more of a personal connection to Behar’s point. She went on to compare Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine to World War II.
Behar said:
“We’ve seen this movie before in the last century.”
You can see Behar’s comments yourself starting at the 0:44 mark in the video below.
Based on this, it would seem Behar’s comments were meant to express a concern for the war spilling out into other parts of Europe, potentially reaching as far west as Italy. However, this is a very generous interpretation.
If Behar wanted to keep the focus on the effects of the war on other nations, bringing up a personal issue, like a vacation, may not have been the best choice.
Instead, it turns you into the butt of internet jokes for a day.
Listen to it again. The comment was worded poorly. She deserves some heat for it.— SC (@SC) 1645808801
Awful night of sleep. Mind was racing. Restless, really. There's so much evil in the world. How did we get here? HOW DO WE GET JOY BEHAR ON VACATION TO ITALY.— Eddie Radosevich (@Eddie Radosevich) 1645794193
She has something in common with Ted Cruz!— Bronx~Inquirer (@Bronx~Inquirer) 1645842666
It is a bit fucked up people are like \u201cFighting in Europe, Gasp!\u201d when we\u2019ve been killing brown kids playing soccer for years. BUT Joy Behar doesn\u2019t want to vacation in Pakistan.— Tim Dillon (@Tim Dillon) 1645983960
It was her sincerity that got me.— Robinson (@Robinson) 1645799995
Maybe they\u2019re non-refundable tickets— John Anaya (@John Anaya) 1645943052
Friday’s episode did not see Behar address her comments despite her name trending on Twitter over her vacation quote. Instead, the talk show host discussed depression and anxiety as the war in Ukraine continues.
