Who was fired from the view

Joy Behar was 'glad to be fired' from The View in 2013: 'I basically was sick of the show'

"I’m sort of on extra time now. I don’t have to work. I don’t have to be on television," she later added of navigating her TV career.

ABC's "The View" - Season 20

Nothing can keep Joy Behar down — not even losing a high-profile gig at the head of the most influential show on daytime TV.

"I was glad to be fired," said The View's longtime cohost in a new interview with TIME magazine, referencing her temporary termination from the panel back in 2013. "I basically was sick of the show at that point for some reason, I don't even remember why."

EW has reached out to a representative for The View for more information.

After first joining the ABC series for its launch in 1997, Behar exited the talk series in August 2013, though she later returned as a full-time panelist in 2015. She also led two of her own talk shows outside of The View, including The Joy Behar Show from 2009-2011 and Joy Behar: Say Anything! in 2012.

Joy Behar on the View

Joy Behar was 'glad to be fired' from 'The View' in 2013

| Credit: Lou Rocco/ABC via Getty Images

TIME's profile charts Behar's rise to prominence as a fixture on The View's roundtable of women, noting that she often riles up her conservative critics for her unflinching approach to covering current events, though she ultimately doesn't feel that she needs the platform as she approaches her 80th birthday in October.

"I'm sort of on extra time now. I don't have to work. I don't have to be on television," she told the publication. "I don't have to have the microphone. They want to give it to me, I'll take it."

When asked if she'll miss her celebrity status when she leaves The View for good, she responded: "Not really. You know what they say — the show must go off."

The View airs weekdays at 11:00 a.m. on ABC.

Hear more on all of today's must-see picks on EW's What to Watch podcast, hosted by Gerrad Hall.

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ABC's "The View" - Season 20

The View

Joy Behar has no regrets when it comes to her time on The View — not even when she was briefly fired from her role in 2013.

In a new interview with TIME, the 79-year-old comedian opened up about serving as a panelist on the daytime talk show from its launch in 1997 until 2013, and again in 2015 until present day.

Speaking about her temporary firing in 2013, Behar said of the incident: "I was glad to be fired. I basically was sick of the show at that point for some reason, I don't even remember why."

Behar also discussed how she's been received by viewers over the years, claiming that "you have a power when you have that microphone. People don't like it."

"They don't like it that I'm a powerful person on The View, saying things that they don't like, but I'm sorry, that is where I'm at," she continued. "I'm a powerful person on The View; I was a powerful person as a comedian holding a microphone. Too bad."

It's that unbothered attitude that Behar says has kept her going, even as she approaches her 80th birthday.

"I'm sort of on extra time now. I don't have to work. I don't have to be on television," she told TIME. "I don't have to have the microphone. They want to give it to me, I'll take it."

As for whether or not she'll miss the fame when her time on The View inevitably comes to an end, Behar told the outlet, "Not really. You know what they say — the show must go off."

The View is currently in its 25th season, starring Behar, Whoopi Goldberg, Sunny Hostin, and Sara Haines. Originally created by Barbara Walters in 1997, the format has remained largely unchanged over the years: a multigenerational female panel discussing the day's "Hot Topics" and news.

For her part on the show, Behar has been involved in her fair share of heated debates and controversy. And as she recently recalled, her termination in 2013 wasn't the only time that she faced a possible firing on the show.

During Behind the Table: A View Reunion, which began streaming on Hulu last month, Behar recalled how Walters, 92, nearly fired her for accidentally leaking the news that Rosie O'Donnell would be joining the talk show in 2006.

Per her recollection, Behar said Walters told her, "Joy Behar did that. And I want you to know that I'm not renewing your contract."

Though Behar insisted it was an "honest mistake," Walters wasn't convinced by her colleague.

"'You're a loose cannon, and I'm not renewing your contract,'" Behar recalled of Walters' reaction. "I said, 'Barbara, come on! It's like, no big deal here.'"

She further relayed that Walters told her "No!" before hanging up the phone. "For a minute, I was stunned," Behar continued. "I was like, 'Really? For that?'"

RELATED VIDEO: Joy Behar Backtracks After Mocking Miss America Contestant's Nurse Monologue

Despite occasions where Behar has been called on to make an apology for her words or actions, she previously told PEOPLE she has no plans to change who she is.

"I've gotten in trouble a few times on the show," she said ahead of the show's 23rd season. "I've had to apologize, which I'm happy to do in order to save mine and everybody else's job. I don't care. Even if I don't mean it, I'll do it. Even if I look like I'm in a hostage takeover, I'll still do it, because if you don't do it, you lose your job and everybody else's."

"My comedy has never been vicious or mean because my intent is just to make you laugh. That's all. I don't have any other motive," she added. "And so if the intention is in the right, and your heart is in the right place, I think that you can never really go wrong. I've offended people for sure, but whatever."

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The View airs weekdays at 11 a.m. ET on ABC.

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