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‘The View’ Nurse Controversy Leads To Nurses Being Invited To Show

By Lindsay McCane
Published on: 03:53 PST, Sep 19, 2015

The View has apologized for the snarky comments made by two of their hosts, and invited dozens of nurses to appear on their show on Friday to talk about the importance of their careers.

On Monday’s show, hosts Michelle Collins and Joy Behar made rude comments about Miss Colorado Kelley Johnson appearing on Sunday’s Miss America’s show wearing her scrubs and a stethoscope around her neck.

“She came in in a nurse’s uniform, and basically read her emails out loud,” Collins said. “Why does she have a doctor’s stethoscope on?” Behar added.

Their comments immediately ignited a frenzy on social media, with the hashtag #nursesunite quickly going viral and being used more than 40,000 times.

Not only have the co-hosts received backlash from viewers, the repercussions of their comments were more dire than they probably thought. Two of their sponsors, Johnson & Johnson and Eggland’s Best, dropped their ads from the show, USA Today reported.

“We disagree with recent comments on daytime television about the nursing profession and we have paused our advertising accordingly,” Johnson and Johnson said in a statement. “We’re committed to raising the level of awareness about the skill and knowledge that the profession requires.”

“In light of the comments about the nursing profession recently made on daytime television we will no longer be advertising on the show in question,” Eggland’s Best said.

Since then, The View’s co-hosts Collins and Behar have apologized for their insensitive comments, saying they were taken out of context. “I, for all of us, want to say we love nurses,” Collins said. “Nurses, if you’re watching, we adore you, we respect you.”

“To all nurses: I want to apologize. You’re the last people I’d ever want to hurt. I’m thankful for all the amazing work you do,” Collins later tweeted.

Behar also admitted that she wasn’t paying attention during the segment.

“I was looking at a Miss America tape, and there’s a woman wearing an outfit,” Behar said. “And I’m thinking, ‘Is she in costume?’ I didn’t know she was a nurse. I’m used to seeing them in gowns and bathing suits. It is not like I was trying to be funny. It was stupid and inattentive on my part.”

On Friday’s episode of The View, Behar apologized a second time saying, “You let us know you were offended by some of our comments and believe me, we were listening. We apologize for our remarks and we know how vitally important nurses are.”

To add to their apology, the co-hosts decided to bring on several nurses to discuss the challenges they face daily.

“Nurses come to the forefront a lot at times of tragedy,” NYU’s Assistant Clinical Professor Larry Slater said, according to Entertainment Weekly. “But the truth of the matter is there are countless heroic nurses that are impacting lives every minute of every day, without so much as a whisper. They’re not doing it for the recognition, they’re doing it for the passion and the love and the impact they can have on those they care for.”

Despite their apology, three more advertisers, Party City, Snuggle and McCormick, decided to pull their ads on Friday.

[Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images]

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