The View co-hosts Michelle Collins and Joy Behar invited nurses onto their daytime talk show on Friday to apologize for the controversial statements made earlier this week.

The View Welcomes Nurses After Miss America Controversy

On Monday, Collins and Behar joked about nurses after Miss Colorado Kelley Johnson presented a monologue about what being a nurse means to her for her talent in the Miss America pageant. The comments, which included Behar wondering “Why does she have a doctor’s stethoscope on,” went viral and struck many viewers as offensive. The backlash was so severe, that sponsors Johnson & Johnson and Eggland’s Best pulled their ads from The View.

On Wednesday, Behar officially apologized on air for her comments, admitting that she had missed the mark. “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. I’m used to seeing [pageant contestants] in gowns and bathing suits. It’s not like I was trying to be funny. It was just stupid and inattentive on my part. I don’t know what the hell I was talking about,” Behar said.

Behar also apologized on Twitter, writing, “Let me say that I have enormous respect for nurses. I did not mean to offend these hard-working, dedicated professionals. I am truly sorry to anyone I have offended.”

In an effort to make amends with nurses everywhere, The View hosted a nurses special on Friday, featuring guests Larry Slater, an assistant professor at NYU College of Nursing, and Kellie Bryant, director of simulation learning, also at the NYU College of Nursing.

“When you think about how nurses are perceived and you look at the Gallup poll, for 13 years running we’ve been listed as the most honest, ethical and trusted profession out there. But sometimes we don’t feel like we’re the most respected,” Slater told The View.

During the segment, Collins apologized for her comments, saying she “really didn’t understand the challenges facing nurses.” Behar added, “I have to say, one thing that became abundantly clear to me this week was that nurses wear stethoscopes.” In fact, Slater and Bryant brought along a few extra stethoscopes for the hosts.

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