Alyssa Farah Griffin, Sunny Hostin, Ana Navarro, and Sara Haines were confidently striding out today on The View.
The ladies were all setting the stage for Joy Behar to appear. Their steps were full of dancing, and they had smiles on their faces.
Clapping and cheering, the audience could not contain themselves.
Excitement was in the air as Ana Navarro beckoned for the lady of the hour: Joy Behar herself.
Joy, though, was having none of it at all. None. She even pushed away the cameraman, who tried for a close-up of her face.
Behind the ladies hung a considerable banner where a clad in white Joy Behar looked glamorous under the words “Happy Birthday Joy.”
Joy grouched at the ladies and the audience
This celebration was to commemorate Joy’s 81st birthday. She was born on October 7, 1942. But she wasn’t happy at all today.
After pushing away the camera person with a gesture, she told everyone forcefully, “Thank you, sit down. Sit down.”
“It’s Joy’s birthday!” yelled Sara Haines, causing Joy to bury her face in her hand as if embarrassed.
Knowing Joy didn’t care for her birthday, Ana Navarro danced in her seat and squealed, “Today is your birthday!”
A grumpy Joy Behar could only utter, “Whatever!”
“Let’s just do the show. I can’t get excited. I’m just glad I’m alive,” she told the ladies.
Joy forced herself to smile at the camera during her celebration
To explain her reluctance over her birthday and the over-the-top celebrations, Joy told the audience, “You get to the point where you wake up and say ‘I’m still here, by God!'”
Joy loves her job and has even declared that the only way she would leave is in a coffin. But her mortality is undoubtedly on her mind, given her surprise each morning about still being here when she wakes up.
Joy tried to change the subject from her birthday to politics today, but another reminder of her age cropped up. She had trouble reading the teleprompter during this segment.
Joy, a self-proclaimed “control freak,” would undoubtedly have welcomed the change to skip over today’s celebrations and report on politics or fashions instead.
Unhappily for Joy, the live birthday party continued throughout the show, much to her chagrin. Later in the show, Anne Hathaway presented flowers to Joy for her birthday.
In the chit-chat with Joy, Anne Hathaway called herself a “neutral, positive” person over liking birthdays. Joy agreed with this sentiment. But, despite wanting no fanfare over this occasion, Joy Behar remained a favorite to her co-hosts and the audience.
The View airs weekdays at 11/10c on ABC.