The View vaccinates itself against further appearances by Jenny McCarthy, Sherri Shepherd
Variety reports that ABC’s The View will say farewell to outspoken pseudoscience advocate Jenny McCarthy, much the way a properly inoculated populace might shake off the threat of measles. McCarthy, who only became a regular panelist on the show last summer, will be joined in her departure by the longer-tenured Sherri Shepherd, who has been part of the show’s cast since 2007.
McCarthy’s addition to the show last year prompted a backlash as columnists like Slate’s Phil Plait protested McCarthy for her anti-vaccination views—especially for spreading the harmful and pernicious idea that vaccines are linked to autism. (McCarthy avoided the topic on The View itself.) And while Sherri Shepherd has never goaded parents into letting their kids get sick, she’s no great friend of science, either—a fact most famously showcased in 2007 when she claimed to be unsure whether the earth is flat, on account of her son was hungry.
The loss of McCarthy and Shepherd in the wake of Barbara Walters’ retirement means that View moderator Whoopi Goldberg will be the only permanent cast member to return when the show’s 18th season premieres this fall—unless she contracts debilitating polio in a swimming pool this summer, but that is extremely unlikely to happen for some reason.