Anna Delvey will be one of the contestants competing for the mirror ball trophy on “Dancing With the Stars” this season, and the hosts of “The View” are pretty pissed off about it.
During Thursday’s episode of the ABC talk show — the same network that airs “DWTS” — the hosts unanimously called out the move, calling it a double standard and a reward for criminal activity.
“I think back to all the families who’ve had family members arrested by ICE, who have gone to the courts to get their dad, or their brother, or their mother back, and this woman, they gave her permission to go do this,” Whoopi Goldberg said. “Now, should I think there’s a reason? Is there a two-tiered system here with ICE?”
Host Sunny Hostin, who has repeatedly talked about how she supports “consequence culture” over “cancel culture,” agreed, reminding viewers that Delvey went on to spend time in prison for overstaying her visa after serving prison time for defrauding people.
“So she committed another crime, and what is the, I don’t know, consequence of it?” Hostin asked. “A Bejeweled ankle monitor. A federal Bejeweled ankle monitor and a spot on the television show.”
Host Sara Haines wasn’t exactly surprised, also reminding viewers that a convicted felon is currently running for president. And that prompted host Joy Behar to pitch a “Dancing With the Stars” spinoff to the network.
“I’d like to speak to the network here about this, because I have a spinoff,” she said. “It would be [Paul] Manafort, [Steve] Bannon, Roger Stone and Donald Trump, called ‘Dancing With the Felons.’ I think that would be such a hit.”
Host Alyssa Farah Griffin noted that she’s always in favor of a redemption story, provided that the person at the center of it admitted wrongdoing and attempted to make up for it. In her opinion, Delvey doesn’t fit the bill, considering she still owes people money.
When Whoopi eventually questioned again why Delvey seems to be getting a pass, Behar was blunt, saying it’s because she’s a pretty young woman.
“Well, that’s a little bit of a piss-off,” Whoopi shot back. “And, you know, I like pretty people too. But I’ve got to say, I’m listening to people bitch about what’s going on at the border, and I listen to people bitch about all these people who shouldn’t be — well, what the hell, man?!”
She added that the selection of Delvey “is a [does the ASL sign for ‘f–k you’] in the face of a lot of people who’ve been trying to make their way back.”
Representatives for ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars” did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.
“The View” airs weekdays at 11 a.m. ET on ABC, and full episodes are posted to YouTube the same afternoon.
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