Joy Behar has an interesting story about her namesake.
“The View” co-host, 82, revealed that her birth name — Josephine Victoria “Joy” Behar — is an homage to her Italian grandmother, who once threatened to kill herself and her own children.
Behar, a self-proclaimed lasagna queen, dropped the interesting family tidbit on Wednesday’s episode of the show’s “Behind the Table” podcast, telling “View” producer Brian Teta that her name stems from her “wacky” paternal grandma who lived in Turin, Italy.
“I was born Josephine, named after my father’s mother, who was a little wacky, I understand,” Behar said on the podcast. “My grandfather decided to come to Brooklyn to visit his brother who was here.”
The comedian shared that her grandmother made the disturbing threat after he stayed in the U.S. longer than expected.
“My grandfather didn’t go back for several months. So, my grandmother, Josephine, sent him — I don’t know, by pigeon or something — a note, saying, ‘If you don’t come back, I’m going to kill myself and the children.’ Of which, there were three,” Behar explained.
Despite the wild story, she doubled down on her moniker.
“That is who I am named after,” Behar said. She noted that her maternal grandfather suggested the entire family call her Joy, saying he’d refer to her as “La Gioia” (aka “The Joy” in Italian).
“The View” star holds a special place in her heart for Italy. However, in April 2023, she revealed she had a quarrel with an Italian train attendant who wouldn’t let her use the bathroom in the first-class lounge.
“The people are nice, here and there. I had to call one woman the b-word, but that’s something else,” Behar told her co-hosts at the time.
“I said it in English because she wouldn’t let me pee in the first-class lounge. I said, ‘Please, let me just go!’” Behar continued. “I said, ‘Listen, don’t be a b–ch.’ She wouldn’t let me go.”
Behar’s bizarre story about her grandma isn’t the only “View”-related content making headlines this week.
All eyes were on the daytime talk show after Whoopi Goldberg forced the program to commercial break when co-hosts Sunny Hostin and Alyssa Farrah Griffin got into a heated debate earlier this week.
The pair found themselves in a back-and-fourth match while discussing President-elect Donald Trump’s newly announced pick for Secretary of Education, WWE co-founder Linda McMahon.
That’s when Whoopi jumped in, sending the show to commercial break.
If you or someone you know is considering suicide, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (8255) or text Crisis Text Line at 741741.