“The View” cohosts had some heated rhetorical battle over Meryl Streep‘s Golden Globes speech and Donald Trump’s subsequent reaction to it during an on-air segment on Monday.
“She made me turn it off, if I’m being honest.” Jedediah Bila said of the effect Streep’s speech had on her. “Not because I don’t respect her right to an opinion, not because — I think she’s a phenomenally talented actress. But when I turn on an awards show, I don’t want to be lectured about politics.”
Bila continued, “There are people out there who love Meryl Streep and love her acting, but don’t want to be made to feel they’re being marginalized for their politics in a moment that’s not about politics.”
That’s when Joy Behar brought up Trump’s tweet in which he called the award-winning actress “overrated.”
“He’s such a baby. Of course, she’s no Scott Baio, I’ll admit that,” Behar said. “He is supposed to be the president of the free world. He’s not there to [do] tit-for-tat over every little slight that goes through his thin skin. That is not his job.”
Bila agreed. Then cohost Sunny Hostin spoke up to argue against Bila’s original remarks, saying that an awards show is a great platform to discuss issues like politics.
“People look up to actors. They look up to athletes. They [are role models],” she said. “And that was such an incredible platform. And what she was speaking out against, or in support of, was freedom of the press, not making fun of disabled people, [but also] supporting arts in our country. That message was really significant to me.”
While accepting the Cecil B. DeMille lifetime achievement award at the Golden Globes on Sunday night, Streep commented on the current political climate and indirectly spoke about the president-elect.
“Disrespect invites disrespect. Violence incites violence. And when the powerful use their position to bully others, we all lose,” Streep said as part of her indictment of Trump, which you can view in full here.
In “The View’s” segment, Behar wanted to continue talking about Trump.
“People don’t like it when actors speak about politics. However, this country just elected a celebrity. We just elected a celebrity,” she said. “So maybe he should keep quiet.”
Moderator Whoopi Goldberg then read a tweet by Meghan McCain in which she wrote, “This Meryl Streep speech is why Trump won. And if people in Hollywood don’t start recognizing why and how – you will help him get re-elected.”
“Let me just put this out there: Stop using Hollywood as this bad word.” Goldberg said, which prompted a back-and-forth between her and Bila and the other panelists about whether Trump did actually mock a disabled reporter — something Streep addressed in her acceptance speech.
Hostin then asked, “Why did you turn off the television, Jed?” to which Bila responded, “I turned off the television because I’m tired of hearing political commentary on awards shows. Take a look at social media. Talk to people in middle America. Talk to people who feel Hollywood is completely out of touch with them.”
And once again, Goldberg said, “Do I need to explain Hollywood to you again?”
Watch the video above.