‘Make believe I never said it’: The View star Joy Behar makes bold attempt to memory-hole insensitive gay NFL ‘joke’

Sometimes, even professional comedians make “jokes” that fall… flat. Such was the case for Joy Behar on Tuesday’s airing of The View, when the comedian made an unsavory quip at the expense of the Raiders’ Carl Nassib — and the LGBTQ+ community at large — during Pride Month.

The defensive lineman is the first active NFL player to come out as gay, as of this week.

“I just wanna take a quick moment to say that I’m gay,” he said in a heartfelt video posted to Instagram, filming via selfie camera at his home in Port Chester, Pennyslvania. “I’ve been meaning to do this for a while now, but I finally feel comfortable enough to get this of my chest.”

“I’m a pretty private person, so I hope you guys know that I’m really not doing this for attention,” he  continued. “I just think that representation and visibility are so important.  I hope the one day, videos like this and the whole coming out process are just not necessary.”

Nassim then added that, until that’s a reality (and comedians don’t continue falling back on gay sex jokes), he’s doing his best to “cultivate a culture that’’s accepting…and compassionate,” which he’s personally kicking off with a $100 thousand donation to LGBTQ+ nonprofit The Trevor Project.

While discussing Nassim’s touching post, Behar queried co-host Ana Navarro as to whether or not she was surprised it took so long for an NFL player to come out, to which Navarro point outed that the league has been around for 101 years. Thus, statistically, there must have previously been other players who were too scared to openly cmoe out, given the toxic-masculinize culture that runs rampant in American sports culture. Navarro then applauded Nassim’s meaningful donation to The Trevor Project, and complimented the sports star.

“He’s cute too. I, like, want to set him up,” she said with a laugh.

“You know, Ana, after they said penetration in the end zone, they lost me,” Nassib quipped, an ignorant nod towards anal sex. (*eye roll*)

Each host reacted differently — Navarro put her fingers in her ears, an interesting technique — but all but one laughed (albeit likely from nerves). The only host to maintain a straight (and disappointed) face was Meghan McCain.

Towards the end of the segment, an attempt to offset penalties, if you will, Behar attempted to take her distasteful joke back, leisurely burying her “apology” in the introduction to the commercial break.

“I just long for the day when you can just be gay in the world, and it doesn’t become a big deal,” the comedian said in an attempt to redeem her gay approval rate. “By the way, that inappropriate joke I made — for daytime television — scratch it. Make believe I never said it. We’ll be right back.”

Members of the LGBTQ+ community are understandably upset by Behar’s joke, and especially her lack of apology.

“PS. I’m *not* saying we cannot joke about people.  ‘Cancelling’ someone over any joke is insane,” Jon Nicosia followed up in a second tweet. “My point was he came out *yesterday* I think it’s ok to hold the “penetration” jokes for another time.”

Or…maybe never? Just a thought!