Two major sponsors yank their ads from the ABC talk show following Joy Behar and Michelle Collins' inappropriate comments on Miss Colorado's nurse monologue at the Miss America pageant.
- Sep 18, 2015
AceShowbiz - "The View" lost two major national advertisers following the backlash it received over nurse comments on the show. Johnson & Johnson and Eggland's Best are pulling their ads from the ABC talk show after Joy Behar and Michelle Collins' comments on Miss Colorado Kelley Johnson's nurse monologue at the Miss America pageant drew public ire earlier this week.
"Johnson & Johnson values and appreciates nurses and we respect the critical role they play in our health care system. We disagree with recent comments on daytime television about the nursing profession and we have paused our adversitising accordingly," the company says in a statement released via Facebook.
The company adds, "We're committed to raising the level of awareness about the sill and knowledge that the profession requires, and we send our thanks today and every day to the millions of nurses who touch the lives of patients and their families. #NursesHeal #NursesUnite."
Eggland's Best echoes the sentiment in its own statement, "Eggland's Best appreciates nurses and values the important role they play in family health. In light of the comments about the nursing profession recently made on daytime television we will no longer be advertising on the show in question."
"The View" and ABC have not commented on losing the two sponsors.
Behar and Collins sparked a controversy following their comments on Miss Colorado's nurse-themed monologue at the Sunday pageant show. "The talent, though, I have to say, the woman who sang opera, and she was incredible. Really good," Collins said at the time. "But then there was a girl who wrote her own monologue... She came out in a nurse's uniform and basically read her emails out loud and shockingly did not win ... it was hilarious." Behar chimed in, "Why does she have a doctor's stethoscope on?"
Later on Wednesday, they apologized on the show. "I, for all of us, want to say we love nurses. Nurses, if you're watching, we adore you, we respect you," Collins said. "You're the most compassionate people. I was not talking about nurses, we were talking about the talent competition, and it got misconstrued."
Behar, meanwhile, admitted that she was "just not paying attention," and thought Johnson might have just been in "costume." She added, "I was just not paying attention. I was looking at a Miss America tape, and there's a woman wearing an outfit with a stethoscope, and I'm thinking is she in a costume? I didn't know she was a nurse."
American Nurses Association has accepted their apology. Pamela F. Cipriano, PhD, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN, president of the organization, said they were "pleased" that Behar had apologized and saw this as a "great opportunity for those in the media to highlight the important, lifesaving role of nurses and show them the respect they deserve."
