The View

Full panic at "The View" Friday morning, as 2 of its co-hosts tested positive for COVID-19 just as VP Kamala Harris was set to appear on the set with them.

During a commercial break on Friday's show, co-hosts Sunny Hostin and Ana Navarro were told they had to leave the stage. Joy Behar later announced Sunny and Ana had to leave because they'd tested positive for COVID-19.

You can see there's a bit of confusion as to whether Joy should still announce Kamala on the show. A producer's heard saying yes before someone shouts "no."

Harris still appeared on the show, but had to do so remotely. She was still in the building, and did the interview from her green room. Safety first, of course.

As for Sunny and Ana ... no one on set seems too concerned about their breakthrough cases. Joy intimated they'll be fine, because they're both vaccinated "up the wazoo."

The news is a bit of a bummer for the live audience members who came to see Harris. The show heavily promoted her appearance ... saying Harris would be live at the table, an historic event for the show to have a sitting Veep.

Meghan McCain's vacant seat on "The View" will be filled by another strong, conservative woman, but they're also in no hurry to make the decision ... sources close to the talk show tell TMZ.

As we reported ... Meghan announced she was leaving "The View" on July 1 following a series of nasty exchanges with her cohosts, though she said the official reason was wanting to be in D.C. with her family.

Regardless, her departure leaves a huge hole as far as -- to state the obvious -- the views offered on the show. For that reason, our production sources say they're searching for someone like McCain -- a Republican or conservative -- to replace her, but no names have been officially proposed yet.

Instead, we're told the plan is to rotate guests once Meghan is out at the end of the month, and for the start of the new season in September ... and take their time finding a permanent replacement.

Our sources say it's obviously very important to find the right woman ... so producers want to test chemistry between the guests and the regular cohosts.

Sara Haines says "The View" should replace Meghan McCain with someone who shares her views ... i.e. another conservative.

We got "The View" cohost leaving Thursday's taping in NYC just moments after Meghan announced she's leaving the show after 4 seasons. Sara, who BTW has great fashion taste, tells us it's her hope the show adds another panelist who brings diverse opinions.

She says the reason is simple ... despite the name of the show in the singular ... it's best when it represents different views, although Meghan was the lone, conservative wolf.

What's more ... Sara says the so-called bad blood between Meghan and the other cohosts is not why she's bouncing. Simply put ... Sara says the pandemic made Meghan re-assess what matters to her right now ... and it's being in D.C. full time with her baby girl. Production sources tell TMZ ... the arguments that became super personal did take their toll on her.

Meghan McCain is leaving "The View," and the reason why is absolutely because of a series of nasty back-and-forths with her cohosts ... TMZ has confirmed.

Sources tell TMZ ... Meghan felt it was too hard for her being the only conservative voice on the show and it had become too challenging, as she felt she was getting ganged up on every day.

We're told McCain will address her departure Thursday on the show. It's unclear exactly what reason she'll give the audience for her departure, but make no mistake ... it's about the politics. Remember, she gave birth to a daughter back in September, so it's possible she may also mention wanting to spend more time with her baby girl.

The news comes a little over a month after Meghan and Joy Behar's last major on-air blowup -- the one that prompted ABC News President Kim Godwin to step in and call a last-minute meeting demanding all of the 'View' cohosts chill with personal attacks.

Our sources at the time also said ABC was getting flooded with pleas to fire Meghan over her latest tantrum and attacks on Joy ... which is what sparked the virtual meeting.

We were also told Godwin told the staff their personal attacks are coming off as toxic to the audience. The issue, we were told, weren't the debates ... but the attacks between the cohosts.

This is the latest shakeup in daytime talk shows. Remember, their competition over at "The Talk" just had to blow up their show, firing Sharon Osbourne after her very personal on-air battle with Sheryl Underwood.

Meghan McCain and Joy Behar's latest on-air blowup is prompting the new "sheriff" at ABC to step in and demand all of the 'View' co-hosts cool it with their personal attacks.

Production sources tell TMZ ... following Monday's heated exchange between Meghan and Joy over anti-Semitism, ABC News President Kim Godwin called a last-minute meeting with 'View' talent and producers, trying to improve the culture behind the scenes at the show.

We're told ABC was getting flooded with pleas to fire Meghan over her latest tantrum and attacks on Joy, and that's what sparked the virtual meeting.

Our sources say Godwin -- who just took the helm at ABC earlier this month -- told everyone things are getting too personal on TV lately, not with the issues they're debating ... but with the attacks between co-hosts.

Godwin told everyone it's coming off as toxic to the audience, and it's not the direction she wants for the show.

Remember, their competition over at "The Talk" just had to blow up their show, firing Sharon Osbourne after her very personal on-air battle with Sheryl Underwood -- however, we're told Godwin didn't mention CBS specifically.

It sounds like her message was not well received by MM, though -- we're told she stormed out of the meeting before it ended because she felt like she was being "attacked."

Bubba Wallace confirms he has already been interviewed by the FBI as part of its investigation into the noose incident ... and he's blasting people who think it was all a hoax.

The NASCAR driver appeared on "The View" on Tuesday -- one day after an inspiring performance at Talladega -- and was asked how he felt about theories the noose was "staged" by NASCAR to garner more support for the Confederate flag ban.

"It offends me that people would go to those measures but again, I'm not shocked," Wallace said.

"People are entitled to their own opinions to make them feel good and help them sleep at night."

Bubba says law enforcement is all over the case -- "I can now say I've talked to the FBI ... never thought that would happen!"

As we previously reported, Al Sharpton is concerned investigators are dragging their feet ... and he's demanding answers ASAP.

As for the emotional displays of solidarity at Talladega on Monday -- when all of the competing drivers rallied behind Bubba's car -- Wallace says he was truly moved by the support.

"Every time I watch that video I get emotional and get chills," Wallace said.

Whoopi Goldberg and Barbara Corcoran are the newest members of the Yang Gang ... because they think Andrew Yang has the chops to make a run for mayor of New York City!!!

We got Whoopi in the Big Apple Wednesday morning and our guy asked about the former Democratic presidential candidate's potential foray into the mayoral campaign.

Whoopi says Andrew's a pretty smart guy and ya gotta see her instant reaction when asked if Yang can handle the job.

We also got Barbara in NYC, and the "Shark Tank" star is really pulling for Yang to enter the race and liven things up.

Barbara says Andrew would bring some much-needed excitement to the mayoral race ... and she gives him a ringing endorsement. It pays to be sweet and genuine in Barbara's eyes.

Donald Trump Jr. didn't hold any punches when going toe-to-toe with Whoopi Goldberg and Joy Behar ... clapping back hard when the cohosts called out POTUS.

The heated exchange went down Thursday morning on "The View" where DTJ appeared, with his GF, Kimberly Guilfoyle, to promote his new book, 'Triggered.' The conversation throughout was tense but things really reached a boiling point when the panel accused President Trump of lowering the level of discourse in the country ... on almost all topics.

Trump Jr. turned the tables ... first on Joy by calling her out for allegedly wearing blackface. Joy took offense to the accusation and denied it. FWIW, Joy admitted in 2016 she had dressed as a "beautiful African woman" at a Halloween party when she was 29, and yes ... it involved makeup "a little bit darker than my skin."

Junior emphasized his point that "we've all done things that we regret" ... by going after Whoopi for defending disgraced director Roman Polanski amid rape allegations. Back in 2009, Whoopi said whatever Polanski's guilty of wasn't "rape-rape."

Eric McCormack says Whoopi Goldberg went too far by equating his call for a list of people attending a Trump fundraiser to McCarthyism -- but he still wants to know who's giving big bucks to the Prez.

The "Will & Grace" star was at LAX Wednesday when he responded to the backlash he's been getting ... and said his words were misconstrued, and he's absolutely not trying to start another blacklist in Hollywood.

Eric explains it like this -- his original tweet was meant to be a call for transparency so HE can know where Trump's major donations come from ... for his own personal benefit.

He suggests if he knows who's spending money to help POTUS, he'll know not to spend his own time and money with those people. Eric notes it's a free country ... other people are free to make their own choices.

Whoopi wasn't really buying this reasoning earlier this week on "The View," though. She blasted the actor for going after people because he doesn't like who they voted for, adding ... "We can talk about issues and stuff, but we don't print out lists."

She went on to imply what Eric -- and his costar, Debra Messing, who had a similar tweet -- was doing was akin to what went down in the U.S. in the 1950s.

Speaking of Messing ... the President has locked in on her as his punching bag regarding the blacklist accusations, instead of McCormack.

Sherri Shepherd's ex-husband says she's preventing him from getting work by constantly bashing him -- but Sherri says if she did have that kinda power ... she'd put it in reverse.

The ex-'View' co-host was at LAX this weekend, where a pap asked her how she felt about Lamar Sally firing back after her scathing interview with D.L. Hughley -- in which she labeled him as a "sorry-ass dude" that she only married out of loneliness. 

Lamar told us that's BS, accusing her of being vindictive and bitter ... adding that they brought a child into the world out of a loving relationship. Sherri has disavowed their kid.

As for his claim that she's effectively blackballed him from getting any writing gigs, Sherri's got a rebuttal -- she says she doesn't have the ability to make that happen, but if she did ... Sherri would flip it in Lamar's favor, so he can stop mooching off of her. 

She must be talking about that $4,100 a month she pays Lamar in child support -- something she believes he was angling for all along, even before they opted to hire a surrogate. 

Sherri drops another nugget about Lamar's work history here, alleging that he'd been out of work when she first got with him ... despite the fact he's a talented writer, as she puts it.

Sherri Shepherd's ex is nuclear over her scathing radio interview targeting him ... and he's accusing her of being vindictive and bitter.

Lamar Sally is clapping back days after Sherri hopped on D.L. Hughley's radio show and eviscerated Lamar ... saying she married the "sorry-ass dude" because she was lonely in the early days of her career on "The View."

Lamar tells TMZ ... Sherri's got it twisted, saying, "I will not have you lie that the only reason you married me and brought our son into the world was because you were lonely or horny. We had a good marriage and our son was conceived out of love from both parents."

Sherri confessed during the interview that just about everyone -- from Whoopi Goldberg to Steve Harvey -- told her to give Lamar the boot. Sherri said the red flags seemed obvious to all, including to Whoopi who decided NOT to attend Lamar and Sherri's wedding in 2011. It took less than 3 years for Sherri to file for divorce ... and then things got really nasty.

As we reported ... Sherri claimed Lamar defrauded her into getting a surrogate to carry a baby, just so he could get child support. She ended up shelling out $4,100 per month but she's disavowed their 5-year-old son, Lamar Jr. ever since.

On that note ... Lamar says Sherri abandoning their son is between her and her God. Lamar adds he's been put through hell over the last few years ... claiming Sherri's lied about his character and sabotaged his career. He says she effectively blackballed him from getting TV writing gigs, but he doesn't get specific. 

Bella Thorne is leaving her troubles behind on the mainland ... hopping on a yacht to party her face off in Miami!!!

Bella's rolling deep with her friends for a little fun in the sun on the first day of summer ... living it up with Chantel Jeffries aboard a luxury yacht full of party people.

It's been a rough week for Bella, who got blasted by Whoopi Goldberg on TV for taking nude photos ... so in the wake of her super emotional clap back at "The View" host, Bella jetted down to South Florida for a much-needed vacation.

Bella knows how to cut loose ... puffing on a blunt and taking some selfies for the Gram as she floats above the picture-perfect water.

Bella Thorne is firing back at Whoopi Goldberg after she seemingly shamed Bella for having nude photos on her phone, on the cloud, or anywhere.

In a series of super emotional posts Tuesday, Bella tearfully blasted Whoopi ... who took the stance on "The View" that celebs who take nude photos are just asking for trouble with hackers and, essentially, said they should know better.

Bella said Whoopi's comment only inflames a painful situation. She also suggested Whoopi's lack of sympathy toward young people who get exposed this way is part of the reason people commit suicide after their nudes are leaked.

In case you missed it ... Bella's Twitter was hacked last week, and over the weekend she posted a series of topless photos in order to beat her alleged hacker to the punch. She says the person was attempting to extort her with the racy pics.

Whoopi, Meghan McCain, Sunny Hostin and Joy Behar debated the issue in Monday's episode of "The View" ... and their convo clearly triggered Bella.

Elisabeth Hasselbeck has a much shorter fuse than you probably thought ... but it's been revealed in this audio of a backstage tirade at Barbara Walters during a taping of "The View."

The explosive audio was recorded in 2006 after the hosts talked about the so-called morning-after pill -- Elisabeth was incensed and argued against it very passionately on the air. Barbara cut her off and told Elisabeth she needed to discuss things calmly "and not go so crazy that you don't listen to anybody's opinion."

As they went to commercial, Elisabeth was clearly pissed. She stormed off, but was still wearing a mic and then blew up!!! She raged to Joy Behar, "F**k that! I'm not going to sit there and get reprimanded on the air!"

She went on, "What the f**k? I don't even swear. She has me swearing. This woman is driving me nuts!!"

Variety obtained the audio of the incident ... which is described in a newly released book called, "Ladies Who Punch: The Explosive Inside Story of 'The View.'"

Elisabeth is already apologizing, saying, "I am quite humanly reactive. I used bad words when frustrated. I was pregnant with Taylor and a big conversation about the value and the lives of the unborn took place at the View. It was a battle -but not of the flesh. I used fighting words because I believe that God decides the value of the lives of babies."

Sherri Shepherd's hot take on the college cheating scandal is that the days of "white privilege" are over, and the parents who paid to get unqualified kids into college were just plain dumb.

We got Sherri Friday night in WeHo outside The Laugh Factory, and she went off on the difference between black and white parents. She even thinks white parents who got entangled in Operation Varsity Blues may have taken their cue from white sitcoms. She says such a storyline in black sitcoms is nonexistent.

Whoopi Goldberg just revealed her bout with pneumonia was so severe she nearly died.

Whoopi appeared on "The View" Friday via a video update and said she'd been battling a bad case of pneumonia. She said, "Yes, I came very, very close to leaving the Earth. Good news, I didn't."

The comedian/co-host has not appeared on the panel since February 6 and, on Thursday, Whoopi reportedly skipped a benefit concert in NYC she was scheduled to co-host with Martin Short.

She said the illness was bad ... with pneumonia in both lungs. Whoopi says she's okay and moving around, and she thanked her fans for wishing her well.