Sherri Shepherd

After intense media speculation over the weekend surrounding Elisabeth Hasselbeck’s future on ‘The View,’ on the March 11 edition of the talk show, host and creator Barbara Walters shot down any speculation that Hasselbeck had been fired.  Speaking on Monday morning, Walters denied the rumors and stated that:

“The truth is we love Elisabeth. I like her personally, and she's just a wonderful person. But beyond that we value and appreciate her point of view, it's important to us, because Elisabeth helps give the show perspective and balance. And believe me she's tougher than she looks. She’s had to sit here for a decade and take the kind of guff we give her. So we have no plans for Elisabeth to leave this show.”

What a surprise that the ladies of The View are outraged over a new NRA commercial that addresses President Obama’s hypocrisy over having armed guards in schools across America.  Discussing the ad on Wednesday, January 16, the women of The View had some harsh words for the "sick" NRA spot.

After playing the ad, the entire cast expressed outrage, furiously talking over one another in a rush to bash the NRA as “nuts." Host Barbara Walters claimed to be particularly offended at the reference to President Obama’s two daughters in the advertisement, failing to point out the true message the NRA was arguing.  [See video after jump.  MP3 audio here.]

As 2012 winds down, we're reliving some of the worst media bias of the year with our Best Notable Quotables of 2012. Yesterday, I recounted some of the nastiest barbs journalists threw at the GOP ticket; today, a look at some of the most egregious favors committed on behalf of Barack Obama's campaign.

While conservatives like Rick Santorum were often cast as radical or weird, journalists lovingly fawned over President Obama as if he was still the rock star of Campaign 2008. Sherri Shepherd, co-host of ABC's The View, won our "Let Us Fluff Your Pillow Award," for obsequious Obama interviews, after a September 25 encounter in which Shepherd seemed intent on casting the President as the Romancer-in-Chief.

A few weeks ago, tennis player Caroline Wozniacki during an exhibition match did a comical impersonation of Serena Williams that some in the media immediately called racist.

On Wednesday, Williams told USA Today that she considers Wozniacki a friend and didn't agree with those that were offended by the gag:

In what was a transparent attempt to scrutinize how conservative a black actress can really be, the ladies of The View invited Stacey Dash on the program to substitute for Elisabeth Hasselbeck. Immediately following her summary of what was to come, Whoopi Goldberg inquired how Dash was doing after the vicious attacks she had endured on Twitter for simply endorsing Mitt Romney.

Without resorting to the same animosity, the liberal hostesses were seemingly just as incredulous. Why would someone like her -- a black woman who works in Hollywood -- vote for anyone but Obama? They made it their mission to find out, pushing her to explain herself. Perhaps they were too busy to read the 3-page essay that she posted online before the election. [video below, MP3 audio here]

The View has a long reputation for its liberal slant, but when one of its own calls out the liberal bias among celebrities, hysteria ensues. 

Such was the case on Wednesday when the lone conservative Elizabeth Hasselbeck spoke out against the overwhelming liberal presence that dominates Hollywood.   [See video below break.  MP3 audio here.]

As NewsBusters reported last week, Westgate Resorts CEO David Siegel recently warned his employees that he will likely have to lay people off if Barack Obama is re-elected.

With total disregard for the truth, ABC's Whoopi Goldberg on Monday's The View said it was "the president of Koch Industries" that did this (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Sherri Shepherd, one of the co-hosts of ABC's The View, issued a strong challenge to Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney Friday.

Appearing on NBC's Tonight Show, Shepherd asked, "How can you handle a country if you can't handle five women on The View?" (video follows with transcript):

The ridiculous media narrative continues, in spite of the mounting evidence that has proven otherwise. A movie clip posted on YouTube months ago is still being blamed for the unspeakable acts of violence that occurred over two weeks ago. The media has effectively demonized an amateur filmmaker for allegedly inciting more rage and violence in the Middle East. It's almost as if they are equating hate speech with murder, and absolving the angry mobs for what they did. They just couldn't help themselves.

One of the actresses from The Innocence of Muslims was invited on The View on Wednesday morning to share her side of the story. What ensued was a peculiar interview that dragged on for over 7 minutes. While the rest of the cast was said to be in hiding, Cindy Lee Garcia 'bravely' made an appearance on national television to set the record straight. (see video below, MP3 audio available here)

Whenever Barack Obama has gone on ABC's The View, he's been gushed and fawned over like a rock star.

Despite this, Joy Behar Tuesday, while filling in for Eliot Spitzer on Al Gore's farce of a network Current TV, actually whined to her guests, "I haven't seen any indication that [Mitt Romney] is coming on The View" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

American liberals continue to be clueless (willfully or otherwise) as to the nature and purpose of the Catholic Church and its relationship to its members. The latest proof comes in the case of theVatican’s condemnation of left-wing nun Margaret Farley’s book, “Just Love, A Framework for Christian Sexual Ethics,” which advocates gay sex and marriage, divorce, and female masturbation. These practices are contrary to Catholic theology as practiced since the beginning of Catholicism. 

But the Church’s reaction to the book is, to liberals, another example of the Vatican stifling women. Here’s how one Sarah O’Leary described it in the Huffington Post: “Sister Margaret A. Farley, a scholarly woman of faith who taught Christian Ethics at Yale University and served as president of the Catholic Theological Society of America, is being brought to the woodshed by Rome for penning "Just Love.” How dare she use her God given gifts of cognition to share her educated point of view with the world!” 

This is a really scary thought.

On this weekend's syndicated Chris Matthews Show, the Huffington Post's Howard Fineman actually said the most powerful and "unifying" media figures in the country today are "the daytime women talk show hosts. It's Oprah, Ellen and The View" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

On Thursday’s episode of The View Joy Behar did what she does best: defend the indefensible.  The ladies of the show were responding to comments made by Democratic donor and PR guru Hilary Rosen, who on CNN Wednesday said regarding Ann Romney, “His wife has actually never worked a day in her life. She's never really dealt with the kind of economic issues that a majority of women in this country are facing.”

The ultra-liberal Behar couldn’t resist the opportunity to attack Mrs. Romney by saying that, “whenever the wife of a politician, very few of them actually work for a living. And she’s talking about economic issues -- she's not the one who's putting bread on the table as millions of women are doing.”  [See video below.  MP3 audio here.]

Most liberal media members and prominent Democrats including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) took great offense to Sen. Scott Brown's (D-Mass.) joke concerning rival Elizabeth Warren not posing naked when she was in law school.

Quite surprisingly, when this matter came up on ABC's The View Monday, the ladies sided with Brown (multipart video follows with transcripts and commentary):

During a discussion of Rep. Doug Lamborn's use of the term "tar baby," The View's Sherri Shepherd misrepresented conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh by accusing him of racism for use of the phrase "Barack the Magic Negro." "You're calling President Obama, Rush Limbaugh - Barack Obama, the magic negro. I mean it's all these little things that I go, wait a minute, I'm tired of giving people a pass going, and then they do an apology and say I didn't know," said Shepherd.

Joy Behar on Monday's "The View" crowed about Barack Obama being "a very intelligent guy" because he went to Harvard Law School and Columbia University.

Without skipping a beat, Elisabeth Hasselbeck marvelously asked, "Then doesn't that make President Bush very smart as well then? Yeah?" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Joy Behar on Wednesday made a staggeringly stupid comment on "The View" that is so inane it requires no additional setup.

"I’m sure people in concentration camps made jokes about each other, about the Nazis, about their situation. That’s the way people relieve stress" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

ABC's The View on Thursday neglected one side of the abortion debate by bringing on two staunch supporters of Planned Parenthood in Congress without any other guests arguing the pro-life side. As the two championed giving tax money to the abortion provider, Barbara Walters herself defended the organization, while Whoopi Goldberg assisted in spreading a falsehood about "federal dollars" for abortion (audio clips available here).

The show's co-hosts brought on Representatives Gwen Moore and Jackie Speier, two of the current "pro-choice" heroes in Congress supporting Planned Parenthood funding, near the end of their 11 am Eastern hour program to discuss the controversial issue. After playing clips from two of their recent floor speeches in the House of Representatives (they omitted Moore's infamous "ramen noodles" remark), co-host Elizabeth Hasselbeck echoed her colleague Joy Behar's compliment from earlier in the week: "We're glad you're both here. Courageous, indeed, what you did to bring your own personal stories....I think it touched many women, including us."

[Video embedded below the page break]

Sarah Palin found a very strange ally on Monday.

With media outlet after media outlet disgracefully accusing the former Alaska governor of inciting Jared Lee Loughner to go on a shooting rampage in Tucson Saturday, Barbara Walters said on "The View," "To blame Sarah Palin as some are doing I think is very unfair to her" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Barbara Walters on Wednesday told Joy Behar she's so offensive to so many people they will give money to folks she doesn't like.

This marvelously was "The View" co-host's response to Nevada Republican senatorial candidate Sharron Angle raising $150,000 online after Behar called her a bitch on Tuesday's program (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Catching up on an item from the Thursday, September 9, The View on ABC, Barbara Walters was at odds with her co-hosts over the issue of whether racism was the primary motivation of the Arizona illegal immigration law as well as opposition to the Ground Zero mosque. Whoopi Goldberg raised the question of whether "there may be an undercurrent of racism in the USA that’s building up," leading co-host Sherri Shepherd to assert that "you certainly hear racism a lot more, I think, than you ever heard it." Walters soon jumped in to voice dissent:

I think that we're kind of mixing things up. When you say there's more racism now, oh, there's so much less racism than 20 years ago or 50 years ago. ... There is racism in this country. That's not new. There is racism against the President. That's not new. But I disagree with putting the mosque and the Arizona laws. I think the Arizona laws have to do with losing jobs and people coming across the border to get those jobs.

After Goldberg responded, "Then why don't they say that?" Walters continued:

Although there are few tough interviews on ABC's "The View" – this was an exception to the rule – Vice President Joe Biden received a surprisingly more serious reception than did President Obama on the daytime celebrity show. He even had a snide remark for Whoopi Goldberg about high taxes for the wealthy.

As Newsbusters reported, President Obama's interview was essentially a rousing festival of praise for the administration and Obama's family. By contrast, Vice President Biden's interview, although by no means tough, was missing the slew of softball questions that Obama enjoyed. There were even some awkward exchanges between Biden and co-hosts Barbara Walters and Whoopi Goldberg, on the issues of foreign policy and taxes, respectively.

While the show's hosts continually fawned over President Obama, token conservative co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck soon brought up Biden's infamous F-bomb gaffe at the health care bill's signing. Sherri Shepherd followed up by asking about the administration's answers for angry Tea Partiers, and Whoopi Goldberg then pressed about the problem of high taxes.

Biden quipped, "You have a lot of money, that's why it bothers you," before assuring Goldberg that he was kidding.

Over 6.5 million people watched President Obama on Thursday surrounded by gushing females sitting on a couch.

Tells you a lot about the state of the union, doesn't it?

Of course, the bigger question is whether folks were tuning in to ABC's "The View" that day to watch Joy Behar faint in His presence or to see if the lone conservative Elisabeth Hasselbeck was actually going to ask the President a tough question.

Unfortunately, those hoping for either were deeply disappointed.

Regardless, ABC proudly released the numbers along with some truly hysterical opinions Friday (h/t TV By The Numbers):

Barack Obama will make history this week when he becomes the first sitting president to appear on ABC's daytime ladies talk show "The View."

I guess when you're likely the most liberal Commander in Chief the nation has ever seen with poll numbers plummeting faster than a coin tossed off the Empire State Building there isn't a better place to have your ego massaged than on a couch surrounded by gushing females tossing softballs at you as the cameras roll.

Most interestingly, the announcement published at ABCNews.com referred to the President's sagging approval ratings giving one the impression that even the show's producers know why he's coming to chat with the girls (h/t NBer SickofLibs):

On Wednesday’s The View on ABC, co-host Joy Behar defended author Joe McGinniss’s decision to purchase a home right next door to Sarah Palin as he plans to write an unauthorized biography of her, and his recent comments on NBC's Today show comparing her criticism of him to the behavior of Nazi troopers of the Third Reich. Behar found no agreement from the other co-hosts, and faced stiff resistance from Elisabeth Hasselbeck, in particular. Behar: "He's not saying she's a Nazi. He's saying the tactic was Nazi-like. ... This is the inference Ms. Palin put on her Facebook: ‘Wonder what kind of material he'll gather while overlooking Piper's bedroom?’ ... so now she writes something like that, she unleashes hatred among the Palinites who are very dittohead-ish and carry guns..."

Hasselbeck objected to being called a "dittohead," prompting Behar bring up Rush Limbaugh embrace of the term as a description of audience members, but also mocked Hasselbeck by calling him and Palin her "idols."

Catching up on an item from the Thursday, May 20, The View on ABC, comedian George Lopez appeared as a guest and made a few anti-Sarah Palin cracks as he joked with the group about the new immigration law in Arizona, asserting that if Palin were to become President, he and other Latinos would flee the country: "This is the answer to immigration, I'm going to tell you right now. This is how to get every Latino to go back to where they came from: Elect her President in 2012. ... We will leave voluntarily. We'll leave. We'll go voluntarily and take Canadians with us."

He soon joked about Palin fitting the "profile" of a Latina: "Sarah Palin needs to be careful because she fits the profile of a Latina. ... Her and her daughter have a kid the same age. ... She works and her husband don't. ... She talks a lot of smack and he don't say one word. That's very Latino. But he's a stay-at-home dad. Where I come from, if you're a stay-at-home dad, your ass is unemployed."

Catching up on an item from ABC’s The View from Monday, April 26, as the group discussed the new immigration law in Arizona that attempts to enforce federal immigration law, co-host Joy Behar invoked Nazi Germany and suggested that those who oppose the law should be inspired by the story – which is apparently just a legend – of King Christian X of Denmark and other Danes wearing the Star of David on their arms during World War II to make it difficult for Nazi occupiers to discern who was Jewish. After making her first Nazi reference of the day by asserting that "this smells very much of, ‘May I see your papers?’" she soon continued:

During World War II, in one of the countries where the Nazis were occupying – I believe it was Denmark – the king of Denmark also wore the Jewish star. So then everybody had the star, and the Nazis did not know who was Jewish and who wasn't. I suggest that the people in Arizona all get out there and protest this and get some kind of thing to show that they don't like this.

After co-host Barbara Walters pointed out that 70 percent of the people of Arizona "like" the new law, Behar looked for a silver lining in the poll numbers:

Our friends at CNSNews.com -- which is owned by NewsBusters parent organization the Media Research Center -- have a story today about ABC "The View" co-host Sherri Shepherd's reaction to Arizona's new anti-illegal immigration law.

Reported Nicholas Ballasy: 

When asked, in the context of Arizona's new immigration law, about a Justice Department  report showing that one-out-of-five American teenagers uses illegal drugs and that most of those drugs come out of Mexico, Sherri Shepherd, a co-host of ABC’s “The View,” said she did not care. Arizona’s new law against illegal immigration is “very unfair,” she said, and America has got to do better.

Shepherd spoke with CNSNews.com at the White House Correspondent’s Dinner on May 1 in Washington, D.C. CNSNews.com asked her, “A lot of celebrities have come out against the Arizona immigration law recently, what’s your stance on it, do you have an opinion on the law?”