We all know how The View ticks at this point. Whoopi Goldberg is like the unofficial face of the show, the one with the strongest voice. Then, you have the likes of Joy Behar, Sunny Hostin, Alyssa Farah Griffin, Ana Navarro, and Sara Haines. Beforehand, this current regime, though, you had Barbara Walters heading the charge. She held the show down for years, especially in the 2000s. Apparently, though, she was supposed to tag team the daytime talk show with one comedian in particular: Kathy Griffin.
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Recently, Griffin posted a video on YouTube, where she reflects on an offer to join The View. She had already been guest hosting a handful of times anyways. Consequently, the network wanted to offer her a permanent spot on the show. The dollar figure isn't insignificant at all either, a pretty sizable $1.4 million to be a mainstay. However, Kathy couldn't quite do it. It's not out of a lack of interest or a scoffing at the salary. Instead, she had other priorities that would've kept her from real consistency on the show.
"I really respect those women for going on that show day in and day out because they know there's blowback," Griffin says. "One of the most buzzworthy shows on television or anywhere. "People still get up in arms online talking about who said what on The View, so it's always been a high-stakes show. Eventually, I said to my agent, 'Okay, tell them if they're going to offer me a permanent chair, please tell them to just offer me the chair or not.'"
Kathy Griffin Turns Down The View Spot to Stay in LA
Inevitably, the 'will they, won't they' was finally answered. They wanted Kathy for The View. However, the timing couldn't be worse. With her own career churning and wanting to stay in Los Angeles to take care of her parents, the constant move to New York simply wasn't feasible. Consequently, she walked away.
"So they made me an offer and the offer was for 1.4 [million dollars] and I am just going to be honest, I had to turn it down because at the time between doing [the reality show] My Life on the D-List and touring I was making about 10 [million dollars] a year. I had to turn down The View because I would have had to uproot my whole life," Griffin admits.
When Kathy breaks the news to Barbara Walters, she almost scoffs at the idea. "'I want you to know why I'm going to say no. It's not that I think I'm too good for this show, it's the opposite: this show is too good for me,'" she tells The View mainstay. "I'm going to be honest, this is how much money I made last year. I will show you my tax returns, I don't want you to think I'm blowing smoke but between moving costs and I'm so entwined with my mom and dad. I have a house in Los Angeles, and it just isn't feasible for me to do, but I want you to hear it directly from me."
In the end, The View offer doesn't budge, Barbara essentially rolls her eyes, and Kathy never hops on board.
