Joy Behar Criticized After Bemoaning That Ukraine Crisis Could Ruin European Vacation Plans

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.

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?

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.

www.youtube.com

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.

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.