The View's first live hour of 2023 paid tribute to the late, great Barbara Walters
Hosts past and present from The View gathered to remember Barbara Walters as a journalist, a mentor, and a friend
The death of journalist Barbara Walters was a decidedly somber cap to 2022—and few can speak so profoundly to the impact of Walters’ no-nonsense, measured interview style as her former co-hosts from The View. To ring in the new year, the daytime talk show (of which Walters was a founding member) gathered hosts past and present for a 2023 kickoff segment that was all about honoring the past in the name of the future.
After current hosts Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Sara Haines, Sunny Hostin, and Alyssa Farah Griffin offered an introduction, the hour’s first special moment reunited The View’s inaugural hosting panel: Star Jones, Meredith Viera, and Debbie Matenopoulos. In the segment, the trio reminisces on years of working with Walters, who founded The View back in 1997.
Jones warmly recalls Walters as “the best gossiper” she had ever met, while Matenopoulous, who joined the cast at the lime green age of 22, describes her relationship with Walters as akin to a “mother-daughter” connection.
“She was tough on me, but I appreciated it, because I learned everything from her. She single-handedly changed my life,” Matenopoulos said (per Entertainment Weekly.)
Matenopoulos wasn’t the only budding journalist who grew to see Walters as a fiercely loving mother figure. Lisa Ling, who joined The View in 1999, mused on regular dinners she shared with Walters where she felt comfortable opening up about deep-seated life struggles, sometimes “wailing” while Walters listened intently. Ling says there was a period of time when she and Walters made weekly visits to the now-shuttered Café des Artistes restaurant in New York City to share in these discussions.
“For her, I really do believe she thought of us as her kids, as her daughters. It was so important for her that we all do well and that we were all happy,” Ling recalled. “She was so supportive.”
Former host Sherri Shepherd recalled feeling pushed to defend Walters during an especially charged on-air interview with conservative pundit Ann Coulter. Simply put (by Shepherd herself), Coulter spoke to Walters in a way that just couldn’t stand.
“You don’t talk to Barbara like that, I will whoop your, you know… I’m not playing with you,” Shepherd says.
She continues: “I remember feeling so protective of this woman who was so protective all the time of me, who would ferociously defend me no matter what gaffes I made at the table.” Goldberg echoed Shepherd’s recollection of Walter’s as a fierce defender, and said she “demanded that we demand the best of us and respect from others. That’s what she said: ‘You don’t let anybody talk down to you, ever.’”
Demanding respect sometimes meant learning to agree to disagree— that was an aspect of Walters’ personality former host Elizabeth Hasselbeck knew well. Although Hasselbeck and Walters’ viewpoints often differed when it came to current issues, she remembers Walters as someone who always put their friendship first, even when she held authority over Hasselbeck.
“I think the reason why Barbara and I not only had that special relationship 10 years at The View, but 10 years since, in such an enriched way, is because she put our relationship over the roles that we had,” Hasselbeck shares.
A montage of some of the most memorable moments of Walters’ tenure on The View concluded the segment, including the moment during Walters’ final day on The View in 2014 when Oprah Winfrey brought out 25 female journalists to whom Walters had offered inspiration. As each woman lined up to hug Walters, the emotion brimming in her eyes was clear.
“This is my legacy,” Walters said, gesturing to the sprawling community of journalists behind her. “These are my legacy, and I thank you all.”