Did 'The View' Hosts Continue To Mock Nurses Backstage After Apologizing For Their Comments On The Show?

Jun 05, 2023

The View hosts didn't take their apology towards nurses seriously.

The hosts of The View have had plenty of heated arguments with their guests, audience members and even their fellow co-hosts since the talk show first premiered in 1997. Several of the show's hosts have made controversial remarks, and sometimes have had to apologize for their words.

Related: Joy Behar Refuses To Discuss One Particular ABC Show Behind The Scenes On The View

The View has provided audiences with numerous controversial moments over the years. After the hosts made jokes about a nurse, Kelley Johnson, during the talent section of the Miss America pageant, the show began to lose sponsors as nurses and their supporters gathered behind the trending hashtag #NursesUnite. The hosts quickly apologized on the show, but did they continue mocking nurses behind the scenes after their apology?

As well as having in-depth interviews and discussing multiple issues and The View's hosts sometimes get into heated arguments with each other, often having different opinions on many topics.

During one episode, the hosts were discussing the Miss America pageant that had recently taken place, and they discussed one participant in particular, Miss Colorado, Kelley Johnson.

During the talent portion of the pageant, Johnson appeared on-stage in her work uniform - nurse scrubs, including a stethoscope around her neck. She spoke about one of her patients who'd been diagnosed with Alzheimer's.

After watching the pageant, The View hosts Joy Behar and Michelle Collins made harsh comments about Johnson, including her uniform, causing the show to lose five major sponsors.

Collins commented, "She came out in a nurse's uniform and basically read her emails out loud and shockingly did not win. I was like, that's not a real talent.

Joy Behar added, "Why does she have a doctor's stethoscope on?"

Related: Whoopi Goldberg Didn't Hold Back When An Audience Member On The View Called Her Old

After getting harsh backlash, The hosts quickly apologized, with Collins saying, "You know, as a result of this situation, I didn't understand the challenges facing nurses, the need to improve how people view and appreciate what you do and I'll be honest I think the comments made Monday kind of played into that and I'm sorry about that."

However, one guest-host of the show, Nicole Arbour has claimed the apology was empty.

After the hosts apologized for their comments, did they continue mocking nurses backstage? According to one insider, the hosts of The View mocked nurses behind the scenes even after they to apologize for the comments they'd made about nurse Kelley Johnson on-camera.

The View has had several guest-hosts on the show, as well as their regular line-up of hosts, and according to guest-host Nicole Arbour, after The View's hosts apologized to nurses on-camera, they then made fun of nurses behind the scenes.

According to the Daily Mail, on Opie and Jim Norton, Arbour revealed the hosts of The View had made fun of nurses backstage after apologizing on their show.

She stated, "Backstage, I heard the girls being like, 'Oh yeah, our nurse jokes didn't go over well so we have to apologize because they're tweeting us too much.'"

Arbour said, "And I'm like, 'you all are p*****s.' See, I can sit in my jokes and be like, yeah, I made them, I think it's funny. Whatever. But they go on there and make a fake apology."

She added, "When the cameras weren't rolling, Michelle (Collins) was like 'Yeah that's not a real profession. They want to be doctors.'"

Related: A Crew Member On The View Had To Get Involved After Guest Tim Scott Refused A Commercial Break

Collins also reportedly posted some tweets about Johnson the night of the pageant, and replied to the backlash by commenting, "I mean it is a little funny the hidden anger you nurses possess."

Collins deleted the tweet, but other users had already reposted it and taken screenshots of it.

A spokesperson for The View has denied the comments, claiming Arbour and Collins "were never even backstage at the same time."

After apologizing, and losing five major sponsors, including: Snuggle, McCormick's, Party City, Johnson & Johnson and Eggland's Best, The View then dedicated an entire show to nurses. The hosts celebrated the nursing profession, bringing real-life nurses on-air to discuss what they do.

Although The View reportedly invited Kelley Johnson to appear on their show, apparently Johnson refused. However, Johnson did stop by The Ellen DeGeneres Show to defend her monologue and her profession.

Johnson discussed the monologue she gave about her experience as a nurse. According to Entertainment Weekly, she said, "A lot of people told me not to do a monologue for talent, it's very unique."

She continued, "But, I am a nurse and that's my talent is taking care of people and caring about other people. I wanted to give the nurses that don't have that voice, that voice and recognition of somebody going up there and just being a little bit different and unique."

During her monologue, Johnson spoke about a patient who "reminded her of the reason she became a nurse in the first place." Johnson also has zero regrets about what she chose to do for the talent portion of the Miss America pageant.

"I really do care a lot and it was just so much fun to perform that and to see it trend on Twitter and Facebook, especially being able to bring all those nurses together and have everybody standing up for our profession and giving them the voice that they deserve."

"They work so hard and they are life savers and that was all the message I wanted to give. It's about them, not about me."

A writer who loves gardening, photography and travel, Elizabeth also raises chickens with her husband. Elizabeth has a passion for movies, entertainment and TV shows. Excited to see all types of stories brought to life, she loves discussing movies, celebrities and shows with others. Reading reviews and trivia, she also often looks up the latest in Hollywood news, and likes dissecting movies, shows, actor performances, etc. One of her hobbies is writing her own articles about shows she thinks are great or the ones that miss the mark. She loves research, and has previous experience doing intense research, choosing video clips and writing scripts for WatchMojo. She also loves spending time with family, especially her nieces..A hard worker, she doesn't miss deadlines, knowing her time and work are important to the whole team. She loves working with a team in a positive environment, and can be counted on when needed. Willing to take risks and learn new things in order to grow further as a writer, she appreciates any constructive criticism and feedback, as it only helps her to improve as a writer.