Meghan McCain Finally Said Goodbye To “The View” Today
Today was the long-awaited day, the day promised by scholars of old, foretold in ancient texts, predicted by the alignment of the cosmos: Meghan McCain’s very last day as a co-host on The View happened today. After four long years of suffering for everyone involved (but mostly for everyone not named Meghan McCain), Meghan is done as The View’s number one reason for Whoopi Goldberg to quickly cut to commercial. A few of Meghan’s nearest and dearest helped send her off in an uncharacteristically light-hearted final episode that didn’t erupt into a massive on-air fight. Too bad, really. You know Whoopi would have loved to have abruptly cut to commercial one last time, for old time’s sake.
Last month, Meghan announced that this season of The View would be her last, because she wants to remain in the DC area with her husband Ben Domenech and their nearly one-year-old daughter Liberty, instead of returning to New York. Conflicting rumors alleged that Meghan hated being at The View almost as much as everyone else hated having her there, and that’s why she was leaving. Meghan’s final episode wasn’t nearly as awkward as some final episodes that have aired on ABC, but still had a couple of little moments of cringe.
The Daily Beast notes that Meghan’s send-off was reserved for the end of the show, which was pre-taped. Meghan was joined by co-hosts Whoopi, Sunny Hostin, Sara Haines, and Joy Behar, who probably felt like her first name when she clipped on her mic and remembered it was the last time she’d be contractually obligated to interact with Meghan. Guests on Meghan’s last day included Meghan’s good friend Senator Kyrsten Sinema, as well as Meghan’s mom Cindy McCain. And in a surprise pre-recorded message was Meghan’s “boyfriend“, former House Speaker Paul Ryan. I was expecting an appearance by Meghan’s super close friend Clay Aiken, but maybe one mention on The View this week was enough for him.
It wouldn’t be a proper send off for @MeghanMcCain without a surprise message from former House Speaker @PRyan!
“You have stood up for your principles. You’ve spoken your mind, and you’ve passionately defended what you believe in,” he says. pic.twitter.com/YZJam3Ha99
— The View (@TheView) August 6, 2021
The View ended Meghan’s final episode with a nearly six-minute tribute video featuring clips to represent her time on the show. If they were going for accuracy, they could have skipped all that and just aired a 30-second ad for migraine medicine. And I’m actually shocked that when you edit out all the footage of Meghan cutting people off, fighting with Joy, rolling her eyes, and throwing tantrums, they were left with so much footage. Nearly six whole minutes!
MEGHAN’S MOST UNFORGETTABLE MOMENTS: On her last day as a co-host, we look back on @MeghanMcCain’s four years on @TheView! https://t.co/kS1p3Jmn3v pic.twitter.com/m7YdWLQGaY
— The View (@TheView) August 6, 2021
Finally, Meghan said goodbye to everyone, thanked her co-hosts, the audience, the crew, and The View’s producers, but adds it’s not goodbye, it’s just so long, because she could always come back. Today is a nice day, Meghan, don’t ruin it!
In the end, McCain closed out her tumultuous four-year run on The View by saying it was “honestly the best of times and worst of times in all ways on and off the show.”
“It’s been a really incredible, liberating experience,” she continued. “And I will always cherish the time I’ve spent with all of you. So thank you all from the bottom of my heart and I hope that our executive producer Brian can forgive me for making his blood pressure rise for the last four years as much as I probably have.”
But how did the rest of her former co-hosts handle Meghan’s exit? For that, we go to Joy, who waved her off like a Cutco salesperson who rang her doorbell.
not “ok bye!” 😭 pic.twitter.com/Vp7Z6Ok0if
— Déjà The View (@dejatheviewpod) August 6, 2021
Joy’s wave was probably intentional. She made sure one hand was very clearly visible to the audience at home because if she’d kept both hands hidden, we all would have assumed they were being used to uncork a bottle of champagne to celebrate.
Pic: YouTube