Joy Behar was absent from Thursday’s episode of “The View” after suffering a dislocated shoulder in a backstage accident.
The 83-year-old Trump-hating commentator reportedly caught her heel backstage, causing the injury and forcing her to miss the broadcast.
Sunny Hostin announced the news at the beginning of the show while filling in as moderator.
Whoopi Goldberg was also absent because she is away filming a movie.
“So, Whoopi is still out filming a movie,” Hostin told viewers before revealing Behar’s injury.
“And, unfortunately, our dear friend Joy dislocated her shoulder,” she said.
The announcement drew audible gasps from the studio audience.
Hostin quickly reassured viewers that Behar was recovering.
“Yeah, so she’s recovering and will be back soon,” she said.
A representative for Behar said she is expected to return sometime around the middle of next week.
“Her shoulder wasn’t broken and is back in place and she is excited to be back at the table as quickly as possible,” the representative added.
With both Goldberg and Behar unavailable, Hostin took over the center seat.
She joked that she had been selected because she was “the next oldest” member of the panel.
Hostin then corrected herself.
“Or, let’s say, seasoned. I like seasoned better!” she joked.
Sara Haines, Ana Navarro and Alyssa Farah Griffin also appeared on the episode.
Guest host Sherri Shepherd joined them at the table.
“This is a squad right here,” Farah Griffin said. “I like this.”
Behar has been one of the most recognizable faces on “The View” for decades.
She joined the program when it launched in 1997 and has remained a fixture apart from a two-season absence.
Her latest injury-related absence comes only months after she spent roughly two weeks away from the program in June.
That earlier absence was related to her work in London on the play “My First Ex-Husband.”
The comedy focuses on marriage and divorce and originally debuted off-Broadway in February 2025.
When Behar returned from London, she joked about the reaction the production received overseas, per Trending Politics.
“Turns out women all over the world hate their husbands,” she said.
She described the experience positively.
“Everybody loved it,” Behar said. “It was a great experience.”
Before leaving for that trip, Behar had also pushed back against reports describing her absence as a hiatus.
“There’s been a lot of media attention on me lately because I’m taking off the next two weeks,” she told viewers at the time.
“They’re calling it a hiatus. It’s not a hiatus,” Behar said, explaining that she was leaving to work.
She had previously outlined plans to stop in Paris before heading to London.
Those plans included writing in cafes and visiting exhibits before continuing on to the production.
This week’s absence, however, was not planned.
The backstage accident left Behar with a dislocated shoulder serious enough to keep her away from Thursday’s show.
According to her representative, the shoulder has been put back in place and was not broken.
Behar is now recovering and is expected to return to “The View” as early as the middle of next week.
