Cohost Joy Behar temporarily left The View table Tuesday morning ahead of a high-profile interview with American Idol winner Carrie Underwood, skipping the conversation a year after publicly criticizing the singer’s decision to perform at Donald Trump‘s second presidential inauguration.

When the talk show returned Tuesday from a commercial break, Behar and colleague Sara Haines were noticeably absent from the Hot Topics table, where the remaining cohosts sat to interview Idol judges Lionel Ritchie, Luke Bryan, and Underwood. Both panelists were present for the first half of the show, including discussions about current headlines.

Often, when groups of interview guests are slated to join the show, select View cohosts will leave the table to allow them more room. Behar’s absence, however, comes after she courted intense criticism from former cohost Elisabeth Hasselbeck, who publicly blasted the 83-year-old comedian’s criticism of Underwood in January 2025.

At the end of the live broadcast, Behar returned to her seat at the table, with moderator Whoopi Goldberg telling the audience that Behar would be the day’s guest on the program’s companion podcast, Behind the Table.

Entertainment Weekly has learned from a source close to the situation that the move was a “production decision” as a result of three interview subjects being seated at the table with the cohosts.

EW has reached out to representatives for The View and Underwood for comment.

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Behar and Haines’ temporary absence at the table came after Behar’s aforementioned public criticism of Underwood, who performed at Trump’s inauguration ceremony at the United States Capitol.

In early 2025, Behar voiced on the talk show her opposition to Underwood’s decision to perform at the event, with Hasselbeck slamming her ex-colleague online in the aftermath.

“That @TheView @JoyVBehar needs to simmer down off my friend,” Hasselbeck wrote on X, later adding that she lamented Behar “calling Carrie Underwood Un-American.” It should be noted, however, that Behar did not use the phrase “un-American” to describe Underwood in her comments on The View.

Still, Hasselbeck shared an image of Behar — with whom she previously sat on The View panel as a permanent cohost — to her Instagram Story at time time, writing, “Joy — @carrieunderwood is an INCREDIBLE WOMAN. You could learn from her strength.”

Hasselbeck eventually returned to cohost The View earlier this year amid permanent panelist Alyssa Farah Griffin’s ongoing maternity leave, though she and Behar did not address the January 2025 incident.

The View airs weekdays on ABC.