All is reportedly not well behind the scenes of the long-running ABC talker The View.
A little over a week after co-host Whoopi Goldberg reportedly “paraded up and down the halls” of the studio exclaiming she is “just a n***er following orders around here,” the Daily Mail reports that Goldberg is feuding with conservative co-host Paula Farris and fellow hosts Joy Behar and Michelle Collins have been sniping at each other.
A source tells the outlet that Goldberg, who has made her liberal viewpoint well-known while recently defending controversial abortion-care provider Planned Parenthood on the program, has taken issue with Farris’ outspoken conservative beliefs.
“She is no fan of Paula,” the unnamed source tells the Daily Mail. “Whoopi thinks Paula only really talks on the panel when she is shilling her conservative Christian beliefs. She hates how ABC is allowing Paula to use The View to leverage network interviews with people like Kim Davis.”
Veteran co-host Joy Behar also reportedly has issues with Farris stemming from the freshman’s Christianity.
“Joy rarely entertains any discussion with super religious people,” the source said. “She and Elisabeth Hasselbeck often bumped heads over the same issue, but for whatever reason Joy was a lot more open to engaging [former co-host] Sherri Shepherd about it.”
In addition to her issues with Farris, Behar reportedly thinks Michelle Collins “relies too heavily on jokes and punch-lines instead of actually offering a substantive opinion during Hot Topics.”
“Michelle is always so quick to drop a comedy one-liner anytime someone is talking on the show that it often steps on opinions or jokes Joy is making herself,” the source told the Daily Mail, adding: “Anyone who has ever worked with Joy will tell you that the best way to piss her off is to step on the set-up of her joke or story.”
Collins has reportedly sniped back at Behar by referring to her as “an old lady past her prime.”
ABC defended its show with a statement to the outlet: “This is another in a long line of erroneous and fabricated stories aimed at The View and its co-hosts that is ridiculous and completely untrue.”
The View has dealt with an increasing number of controversies over the past several months as it grapples with flailing ratings and frequent lineup changes. Last month, the program lost at least five major advertisers after a segment mocking the nursing profession, and in August, it was revealed that former co-host Rosie Perez quit the show after being forced to apologize to Kelly Osbourne over a supposedly racist comment.