Updated

Updated · Deadline · May 28

Joy Behar Leaves 'The View' for 2 Weeks as Sheryl Underwood, Kara Swisher Fill In

Updated

Updated · Deadline · May 28

Joy Behar Leaves 'The View' for 2 Weeks as Sheryl Underwood, Kara Swisher Fill In

Q: Is Joy Behar's London stage debut a new career chapter or a brief escape from her controversial TV role?

Joy Behar’s London stage debut appears to be a brief escape for a defined creative project, not a new career chapter away from *The View*. The available facts point to a temporary, two-week hiatus. Behar said she is spending one week in Paris for writing and museum visits, then one week in London to perform *My First Ex-Husband* at the Boulevard Theatre in the West End. *The View* producer Brian Teta described it as a short absence, and the show has already arranged guest hosts, including Sheryl Underwood and Kara Swisher, with Ana Navarro and Whoopi Goldberg taking on added duties. Behar also reportedly pre-taped weekend appearances, reinforcing that this is a planned interruption rather than a departure. The stage work itself is not a sudden reinvention. *My First Ex-Husband* was developed during the pandemic and has already had a New York run, so the London engagement looks more like an extension of an existing side project than the start of a full-time theater pivot. At 83, Behar is broadening her creative portfolio, but there is no evidence she is leaving television. The timing does follow a recent on-air dispute in which co-hosts challenged one of her comments, but nothing in the reporting suggests the trip is a retreat prompted by controversy. The stronger reading is that Behar is taking a short, pre-arranged break to pursue a long-running personal project, then returning to her regular television role.

Q: What inspired an 83-year-old Joy Behar to write and star in a play about her ex-husband in London?

Joy Behar appears to have been inspired by her own life and by work she began during the pandemic. Her play, *My First Ex-Husband*, is explicitly rooted in relationship experiences and is described as an adaptation of true stories about “the messy, hilarious truths of love, sex, and relationships.” The title itself points to a personal source: her first marriage and what came after it. The available reporting does not quote Behar giving a single, specific reason for writing the play. But the strongest evidence from the news and related coverage is that she turned to playwriting during the pandemic and developed material drawn from real-life romantic history, including her own. That personal angle is what connects the work to her ex-husband. As for London, the move appears to be a professional extension of the production rather than a separate inspiration. Behar is taking a short break from *The View* to bring the show to the Boulevard Theatre in the West End after an earlier New York run. Reports say she will be in Paris first for writing and art exhibits, then head to London for the performances. One important clarification: the reporting says Behar wrote the play and is traveling with it to London, but it does not clearly establish that she is starring in the London production. Coverage names Jackie Hoffman and two British actors as part of the staging.

3 articles · Updated · Deadline · May 28

May 28 is set to be Joy Behar’s last live appearance on The View before a two-week break for travel and stage work in Europe.
London’s Boulevard Theatre is where Behar will spend the second week performing her play My First Ex-Husband in the West End, after first flying to Paris.
Whoopi Goldberg will cover Friday episodes during Behar’s absence, even though Fridays are not usually part of her regular on-air schedule.
Sheryl Underwood will guest-host for two days, while Kara Swisher joins the Hot Topics panel on additional days alongside Ana Navarro.
Weekend View episodes will still feature Behar because those shows were taped in advance, underscoring that the hiatus affects only the weekday live lineup.