Meghan McCain may not be welcome back to The View for its landmark 30th anniversary celebration, according to inside accounts of how she treated people both on and off the air during her four-year tenure on the ABC daytime talk show.
Sources close to the program told Page Six that the show is actively working to keep the 41-year-old former co-host from attending the milestone event, which is being planned for next year. Those familiar with the situation said they would be “shocked” if McCain even receives an invitation given her behavior during her time on the panel.
“She’s the most horrible, biggest pain in the ass,” one insider revealed to the outlet, describing McCain’s conduct both in front of cameras and behind the scenes. The allegations paint a picture of someone whose interpersonal interactions left lasting impressions on her former colleagues and staff members.
According to multiple accounts, McCain’s problematic behavior extended beyond occasional on-air tension. One source claimed she once hurled an expletive at the executive producer directly in front of the studio audience. Other staffers painted a different dynamic than what played out during televised debates, suggesting that behind-the-scenes treatment was what truly troubled colleagues.
“Forget about how she treated her cohosts. It’s less about that and more about how she treated the staff,” one additional source shared. The source alleged that McCain would even scream across the stage, “Do you know who I am?” while reminding people of her famous father’s legacy.
McCain, who joined the show in 2017 as the conservative co-host, left The View in August 2021 after initially announcing her departure in July. She cited a desire to spend more time with her family in Washington, D.C., and later revealed in her audio memoir “Bad Republican” that she had been struggling with severe postpartum anxiety and what she characterized as a toxic work environment.
Her on-air tenure was frequently marked by heated exchanges with her liberal co-hosts. Moderator Whoopi Goldberg once became visibly frustrated during a debate and told her, “Girl, please stop talking.” Joy Behar notoriously responded with sharp rejection when McCain joked about missing her after returning from maternity leave, saying bluntly, “I did not miss you. Zero!”
That particular moment came on McCain’s second day back from maternity leave in January 2021, when she had recently given birth to her daughter Liberty and was dealing with significant postpartum anxiety. According to McCain’s own account, she sobbed during the commercial break and experienced a panic attack in her office after the show ended that day, ultimately influencing her decision to leave the program entirely.
In her subsequent interviews and memoir, McCain has been highly critical of her former workplace, describing the atmosphere as toxic and claiming that stories about internal conflicts were regularly leaked to tabloids. She has stated that her father, the late Senator John McCain, who had actually encouraged her to take the job, would have been disappointed by her experience on the show.
The situation surrounding the 30th anniversary celebration remained uncertain as of this week. Executive producer Brian Teta acknowledged on social media that “lots of plans are in the works” for the special event, but clarified that “no invites have gone out” yet. His statement came after other former co-hosts, including Rosie O’Donnell, had publicly stated they would be returning for the milestone occasion.
Meanwhile, McCain has already made clear her own stance on any potential return. She has repeatedly stated over the past two years that she has no desire to go back to the show and has described her time there as painful both personally and professionally. She has also been critical of The View’s editorial direction since her departure, calling the program a “radical progressive insane asylum” in a social media post last year.
The exclusion of McCain from anniversary celebrations would mark another chapter in the long history of interpersonal drama that has defined The View since its 1997 debut. The show’s culture has been documented over the years as breeding ground for conflict between hosts and staff, something McCain herself wrote about extensively in her memoir, suggesting that the competitive dynamics and management failures of the program contributed to a toxic atmosphere that affected not just on-air personalities but everyone involved in its production.
