“The View” co-host Joy Behar is the latest high-profile person to be swept up in the surging “blackface” typhoon. Many conservatives are seeing red because Behar still has a job after she was shown wearing dark makeup to resemble an African queen during a Halloween celebration in the 1970s.
The toxic blackface topic has landed high-ranking politicians and media personalities in hot water recently and derailed many careers, most prominently former “Today” and “Fox News” host Megyn Kelly.
A photo of Behar dressing up as a “beautiful African woman” was resurfaced by TheWrap media editor Jon Levine amid a series of blackface scandals making national headlines, including involving several politicians in Virginia.
In 2016, Behar said on “The View” that she was 29 when she darkened her skin to resemble “a beautiful African queen.” The topic was broached when the panel discussed the resurgence of naturally curly hair.
Joy Behar admitted during a taping of The View in 2016 to dressing as a “beautiful African women” at a Halloween party when she was 29 which involved makeup “that was a little bit darker than my skin”
The show even ran an image of the old photo pic.twitter.com/qKQqzDPxyn
— Jon Levine (@LevineJonathan) February 6, 2019
ABC News, which televises “The View,” has yet to issue a formal comment.
During that 2016 episode, Behar’s co-hosts appeared surprised by her drastically different look. Raven-Symoné, who was a co-host at the time, asked: “Joy, are you Black?”
“I was so cute,” Behar said in the 2016 clip.
“Joy… are you my auntie, Joy?” Raven-Symoné joked sarcastically.
Behar then explained that the picture was taken at a Halloween party where she dressed up as a “beautiful African woman.” She hastened to add that it was her actual hair.
“Did you have tanning lotion on, Joy?” Raven-Symoné asked.
Behar responded by saying she wore makeup “that was a little bit darker than my skin.”
Not much was made about the revelation three years ago. But several recent national incidents brought Behar’s 2016 admission back to the forefront. Kelly, the former “Today” host, was terminated for infamously discussing — and defending — blackface. Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring admitted wearing blackface at a Halloween party during his youth. And this came after Herring had joined calls for Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam to quit over his racist photo and blackface scandal.
Northam’s case is a little different than Herring’s or Behar’s because Northam’s medical school yearbook featured a man with black paint on his face while standing next to another man dressed in a Ku Klux Klan outfit. Despite coming out the next day to deny that either of those photos was of him, Northam admitted to dressing up in blackface at one time to resemble iconic singer Michael Jackson.
A number of prominent politicians on both sides of the aisle have called for Northam to step down as a result.
Meanwhile, Behar’s detractors are suddenly appalled by the appearance of hypocrisy and are calling for her head.
Wow … @megynkelly was fired for just raising a discussion about blackface, not wearing it herself! https://t.co/e159loDPKo
— Amber Athey (@amber_athey) February 6, 2019
Megyn Kelly was fired from her show for asking a hypothetical question about blackface. Joy Behar actually wore blackface, and admitted it, and showed a picture of it on TV, yet she still has her job. https://t.co/dIJdoMmhmz
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) February 7, 2019
Remember when Megyn Kelly was canned for just talking about this?
Joy Behar Darkened Skin To Dress As 'African Woman' For Halloween via @realDailyWire https://t.co/8KSFwBtKLW
— Amanda (@AmandaPresto) February 7, 2019
https://twitter.com/NobamaDotCom/status/1093500792491991041?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.foxnews.com%2Fentertainment%2Fthe-view-joy-behar-silent-on-resurfaced-blackface-photo-wearing-beautiful-african-woman-costume
https://twitter.com/WayneDupreeShow/status/1093477721487888384?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.foxnews.com%2Fentertainment%2Fthe-view-joy-behar-silent-on-resurfaced-blackface-photo-wearing-beautiful-african-woman-costume
Just a reminder that Megyn Kelly was fired for saying that blackface was acceptable when she was a kid (and not actually *participating* in blackface like all of these people.) https://t.co/2Uw9TtEYVf
— Karol Markowicz (@karol) February 7, 2019
What do you make of Behar’s admittance that she darkened her skin to resemble a beautiful African queen? Does it meet your standard of a White woman wearing blackface? Or is Behar’s situation completely different from that of the Virginia governor or Megyn Kelly?
