Billy Bob Thornton's show already told 9 million people exactly what he thinks of Joy Behar.
Now she's calling him ignorant for saying it out loud.
She picked the wrong actor to come after.
What Billy Bob Thornton Said on the Howie Mandel Podcast That Set Joy Behar Off
Billy Bob Thornton appeared on the Howie Mandel Does Stuff podcast last week and said the thing Hollywood trains its people to never say out loud.
"I don't know anything about politics," he told Mandel. "I have no idea. And the stuff that I do believe, I don't want to force it down somebody else's throat because I'm not an expert on that."
He pointed to Ricky Gervais at the 2020 Golden Globes — the speech that made every celebrity in that room squirm.
Get your award. Leave.
Stop lecturing people who paid to watch you act.
Joy Behar's response on The View was instant contempt.
"Imagine bragging about how uninformed you are," she said.
Sunny Hostin piled on, declaring that "silence is complicity" and that every celebrity with a platform has a moral obligation to use it.
This from a woman who makes $7 million a year to sit at that table and tell everyone else what to think.
The Trap Griffin Sprang Live on Television
Co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin waited and delivered the kill shot.
"A lot of this table criticized George Clooney when he wrote his Biden op-ed," she said. "That is a celebrity using his voice, saying what he believes – it can't just be when they agree with your position."
The receipts are devastating.
In July 2024, Clooney wrote in The New York Times that Biden needed to step down.
Behar went on The View the next morning and demanded to know why Clooney "couldn't tell him that in person, for God's sake."
Hostin called it airing "dirty laundry to the world."
Those same two women demanded every celebrity speak out — or face accusations of complicity.
Behar's response to Griffin said the quiet part out loud: "He can say it and I can criticize it, that's called free speech."
Correct. And Billy Bob Thornton can choose to say nothing. You can criticize that too.
But you cannot demand celebrity political activism as a moral imperative, attack celebrities who break from your politics, and call it a principle.
That is a loyalty test. Not a principle.
What Landman Said About The View That 9 Million People Already Saw
Last December, Thornton's character Tommy Norris on Landman was explaining to his father — played by Sam Elliott — what The View actually is.
"A bunch of pissed-off millionaires bitching about how much they hate millionaires and Trump and men and you and me and everybody else they got a bee up their a** about," Tommy said.
His father: "Don't sound funny."
Tommy: "Well, it ain't joke funny. It's like 'fart in church' funny."
The clip went viral.
Behar is worth $30 million. Whoopi Goldberg is worth $60 million. When a reporter asked Behar what keeps her on The View after all these years, she answered: "Money."
These are the women demanding Billy Bob Thornton — a working actor from Hot Springs, Arkansas, who calls himself a "radical moderate" — use his platform to lecture the public about politics.
What the 2024 Celebrity Endorsement Disaster Proved About Joy Behar
The panel demanding celebrity political activation just watched the most celebrity-saturated campaign in American history collapse.
Beyoncé let Harris walk out to "Freedom" at every rally. Taylor Swift endorsed her to 280 million Instagram followers. Oprah headlined the DNC. Bruce Springsteen, Lady Gaga, and Eminem lined up.
Trump won the popular vote by 2.3 million ballots and Harris got wiped out in every swing state.
The Hill headline after election night: "A-list celebrity endorsements boomerang on Harris, Democrats." The New York Post: "How Kamala Harris killed the celebrity endorsement."
The machine didn't just fail. It backfired.
"First of all, unless you have really studied stuff and really know about a subject fully, who the hell would want to listen to an actor or a musician talk about politics?" Thornton told Joe Rogan in November 2025.
Co-host Sara Haines said it plainly.
Celebrity political statements preach to people who already agree, she said, and enrage everyone who doesn't.
And here is the number Behar does not want anyone thinking about.
The View draws about 2 million daily viewers.
Landman — the show where Thornton's character called her a pissed-off millionaire on national television — pulled 9.2 million views in its first two days this season alone.
It became the most-watched premiere in Paramount+ history.
America is not watching The View and taking notes.
America is watching Landman and laughing.
Sources:
- Alexander Hall, "The View co-hosts feud after Billy Bob Thornton calls out celebrity political lectures," Fox News, May 12, 2026.
- Zachary Leeman, "'Silence Is Complicity': Joy Behar and Sunny Hostin Melt Down Over Actor Telling Celebs to Shut Up About Politics," Mediaite, May 12, 2026.
- "Joy Behar Is 'Mad at George Clooney' for Telling Biden to Drop Out in Op-Ed," Variety, July 11, 2024.
- "'The View' Scolds George Clooney For Op-Ed Calling On Biden To Drop Out," Daily Wire, July 11, 2024.
- "'Landman' Mocks 'The View': 'Pissed-Off' Hosts Hate Trump and Men," Variety, December 14, 2025.
- "Billy Bob Thornton Roasts Political Celebs with Rogan While Branding Himself 'Radical Moderate,'" Mediaite, November 8, 2025.
- "Landman Season 2 Premiere Delivers Record Breaking 9.2 Million Global Streaming Views," Paramount+, November 20, 2025.
- "Joy Behar Net Worth," Celebrity Net Worth, 2025.