It’s clear The View can get contentious on the air, and sometimes things can even be heated behind the scenes, particularly given the show has several Democrats for every Republican woman who sits on the round table. For Abby Huntsman, speaking her mind on air was less of a problem than the “toxic” culture she said she encountered backstage on the daytime talk show series. Which is why I'm surprised she's back this week.
Abby Huntsman left The View back in 2020. At the time, she said she wanted to step away to work on her father’s gubernatorial campaign, but a year later when she launched her own podcast, she got more candid about her exit, calling it “a great out." In fact, she called the show a “toxic environment” and didn't seem eager to repeat the experience.
Kind of stressful. That’s a politically correct way of putting it. One of the first moments I really felt it I was a few weeks in. I’d just left Fox, anchoring the morning show, and I finally felt, I was really confident in the job, in the person that I was. I felt like I knew what I was doing and I was OK at it.
She said on "I Wish Somebody Told Me" that she came in confident. However, nearly immediately there was a lot of crazy, passive-aggressive behavior on the show. She alleges The View told her everyone saw a talent coach, so she went and was “happy to get feedback.” Just a few days later, the tabloids got ahold of the fact. She knew the puff piece making her look incompetent had come “from within.”
You would see people act in ways around you that was not OK, that was very much part of the toxic environment that existed, but because it was a show like The View, it was like, this is just what happens. And here we were going out on the air criticizing other shows and other people for doing it the wrong way or for a toxic culture, and I’m sitting there like, ‘I’m in the middle of this.’
Now, Ms. Huntsman did say on the podcast it was not necessarily her co-hosts at the time who were a problem (though she did allegedly beef with fellow The View leaver Meghan McCain). She said repeatedly in her “I Wish Somebody Told Me” podcast that it was the executives in charge who were the problem, and even when she “did report it” and asked for “change,” she’d basically get the runaround.
I knew the show did not reflect my values. When I say that, I mean rewarding people for bad behavior. … At that time, there were executives in charge that I did feel we were sort of players in their game. It was all about money, ratings.
Though he's been around for more than a decade, Brian Teta’s been the face of the show in more recent years, and has been the person navigating Alyssa Farah Griffin’s pregnancy leave with the cast. He even has a “Behind The Table" podcast that sheds light on some of the thoughts and feelings the cast has, so the show has (seemingly) gotten more transparent in recent years. During this time, there have been several changes on the show with people in leadership positions behind the scenes, as well.
Some of those changes may help indicate why Abby Huntsman made the return to The View. She hasn’t spoken out about the why behind the decision, but she did say she did not "take for granted" the opportunity to return to the set. She also said on the show she wanted to "celebrate us thinking differently," giving hints at her mind set.
Plus, she did send congratulations to Griffin on the day of her first appearance. And she seemed jovial about getting to spend time with Joy Behar on set.
Still, I would not have guessed this would be a 2026 TV schedule outcome if someone had asked me to bet on it at the start of the year.
A slew of panelists are set to join the hot topics table while Alyssa Farah Griffin is out. We’ve already seen the likes of Savannah Chrisley share positive thoughts about Whoopi and Joy (despite reservations) and Elisabeth Hasselbeck also make a surprise return to the show.
