Joy Behar Was 'Glad' She Got Fired From 'The View,' Here Is Why

Comedian Joy Behar is revisiting her 2013 departure from "The View."

After serving as a panelist for the talk program for more than five years, starting in 1997, the comic icon was fired at the time. Behar was then rehired in 2015 and has continued to work on the talk show until this day.

Behar's response to being fired was, to put it mildly, rather startling for a show that brought her critical praise after she had slowed down on her comic career. In a recent interview, the TV personality admitted that she was happy about the dismissal rather than upset at the time.

Read below for more.

Speaking with TIME, Behar shared insight into her departure from "The View" in 2013. The 79-year-old comic, along with Elisabeth Hasselbeck, Whoopi Goldberg, Sherri Shepherd, and Barbara Walters, served as cohost of the show at the time.

Behar stated in March 2013 that she would leave the show after season 16. Her latest conversation with the news outlet revealed that her contract was terminated, contrary to popular belief that she departed on her own terms.

On how she reacted to the firing, Behar said, "I was glad to be fired. I basically was sick of the show at that point for some reason, I don't even remember why."

Behar unexpectedly kept making guest appearances on the show from 2014 to 2015, despite moving on to other personal endeavors once her contract was terminated. She has stayed on the panel ever since ABC announced on August 25, 2015, that she would return as a regular cohost beginning with the 19th season premiere.

Behar also discussed how people have reacted to her over the years, which, upon closer examination, may have contributed to the numerous controversies she has faced while hosting the show.

"They don't like it that I'm a powerful person on The View, saying things that they don't like, but I'm sorry, that is where I'm at," she continued. "I was a powerful person as a comedian holding a microphone. Too bad."

Still, Behar said in an interview that her acts at the microphone were not intended to offend and that, in the end, she had the best intentions while making her points.

"My comedy has never been vicious or mean because my intent is just to make you laugh. That's all. I don't have any other motive," she said per People. "And so if the intention is in the right, I think that you can never really go wrong."

Behar revealed on Hulu's "Behind the Table: A View Reunion" how Walters almost fired her for unintentionally disclosing the fact that Rosie O'Donnell had been signed on as a panelist in 2006.

She narrated on the show a call she received from the 92-year-old, who scolded her for letting slip the info and then promised to terminate her contract.

"'You're a loose cannon, and I'm not renewing your contract,'" Behar recalled Walters' reaction. "I said, 'Barbara, come on! It's like, no big deal here.'"

In response, Walter said, "No!" before cutting off the call. "For a minute, I was stunned," Behar added. "I was like, 'Really? For that?'"

In the end, it seemed Walters got over the slip from Behar since the comedian remained as a panelist for the next season at the time.

For Behar, getting into trouble while doing her job has become commonplace, and she has no plans to change her attitude. However, she sometimes apologized for her actions, even though she did not mean it.

"I've gotten in trouble a few times on the show," she once said(via People). "I've had to apologize, which I'm happy to do in order to save mine and everybody else's job. I don't care. Even if I don't mean it, I'll do it. Even if I look like I'm in a hostage takeover, I'll still do it, because if you don't do it, you lose your job and everybody else's."

In the meantime, The View shows on weekdays at 11 a.m. ET on ABC. The current cohosts of the talk show — Goldberg, Behar, Sunny Hostin, and Sara Haines —will reprise their role in the 26th season of the show, which will debut after Labor Day.