Sunny Hostin thinks “The View” cohost Joy Behar was 'Black in another life'

Joy Behar, The View's head Italian in charge, might've lived a very different past life, according to cohost Sunny Hostin.

As the panelists broke down Behar's upcoming appearance on PBS' genealogy docuseries Finding Your Roots, the 82-year-old recounted some of the show's findings, including information that pointed to both sides of her family living on opposite sides of the same street well before she was born.

Hostin, the show's legal expert, who also appeared on Finding Your Roots in February 2024, cut in to ask, "So, you didn't find any, uh, slave-owners in your past? No Black people?" The question was a clear nod to Hostin's episode of the program, which found that her family owned slaves.

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"No slave-owners. Just, like, slaves," Behar answered. Moderator Whoopi Goldberg looked toward Hostin to exclaim, "She's Italian! Come on!"

Without missing a beat, Hostin jumped back in: "I think she was Black in a another life," the 56-year-old quipped.

Hostin's comment came years after Behar drew criticism following a resurfaced photo of herself at age 29, depicting her at a Halloween party dressed as a "beautiful African woman," the comedian said on The View in 2016.

Behar regularly discusses her Italian culture on The View, including her penchant for making a lasagna dish — for which the recipe is a closely guarded secret — that's deeply beloved by Goldberg.

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Behar also celebrated her people in early 2023, upon returning to her post on the show after a lengthy vacation through Europe that included an incident where she called an Italian woman a bitch on a passenger train after the railroad employee wouldn't let her use a first-class bathroom on board.

The View airs weekdays at 11 a.m. ET/10 a.m. PT on ABC.

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