Joy Behar is standing by her past jokes about Monica Lewinsky after a lengthy discussion on Wednesday’s episode of “The View.”
Kicking off their “Hot Topics” on Wednesday morning, Behar noted that between producing on “American Crime Story: Impeachment” and a new documentary called “15 Minutes of Shame,” Monica Lewinsky has been back in the spotlight for one of the lowlights in her life. And, now that she is, Behar posed the question of whether Lewinsky has been treated too harshly over the years for her role in then-President Bill Clinton’s White House sex scandal.
Behar reminded the panel of women that just about every comedian at the time, including herself, used Lewinsky as a punchline and made her the butt of most jokes, but that “in today’s climate, there’s something about it that doesn’t smell right.”
That said, when Behar’s co-hosts asked her point blank if she regrets doing that now, the answer was a resounding “no.”
“I don’t regret any joke I ever did,” Behar said confidently. “Because in the moment, it was funny and it was relevant. My intention is never to hurt anybody’s feelings, so I’m coming from a pure place with it.”
Reps for Lewinsky did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.
Behar then recounted one of her regular bits, called “Monica’s Diary,” where she would make a daily about what Lewinsky was feeling that day, and added that other big name comedians like Jay Leno also took “big shots” in their own Lewinsky jokes.
“But now, with the lens of feminism, and with the lens of cancel culture, and with the lens of the MeToo moment, maybe it looks a little bit different,” Behar admitted.
As the discussion went on, host Sunny Hostin chimed in, admitting that she sees the fallout of the Clinton Affair for Lewinsky different than some might.
“Was she unhirable? Was she a pariah? I remember a handbag line, I remember that she was a dating-show host, I remember that she got a degree after going to the Lewis and Clark college — before the internship — a master’s degree from the London School of Economics,” Hostin listed. “Now she is a producer of movies based on this affair, her life. I think her net worth is in the millions of dollars. She’s part of the 1 percent. And so when you talk about ‘she was unhirable and a pariah,’ I’m just not so sure about that.”