Lisa Ling & Sara Haines On Grief, Legacy Of 'The View,' And Lindsay Clancy

The View: Behind the Table

Lisa Ling and Sara Haines reflect on their long-standing connection to 'The View' and the profound impact of Barbara Walters' mentorship. Th

Key takeaways

• Barbara Walters advised Lisa Ling not to neglect her personal life despite her professional ambitions.
• The 'sandwich generation' faces unique pressures from simultaneously caring for young children and aging parents.

Main topics

• Legacy of Barbara Walters
• Grief and Loss

Notable quotes

Don't neglect your personal life.

Conclusion

The episode offers a profound look at how personal history and public

Transcript preview

Speaker 5 (0:00) Last October's brazen daytime heist at the Louvre was shocking. Now, nearly a year out, there are still critical questions to be answered. In this series, I'll take you inside the events of that day, like you've never heard them before, through the eyes of the people who lived them. Heist at the Louvre, a new series from ABC Audio, coming September 28th, wherever you get your podcasts. or subscribe to 2020 True Crime Plus on Apple Podcasts for ad-free episodes and so much more. All Speaker 4 (0:30) right, it is Thursday. We are here not only with our lovely Sarah Haynes, but our equally lovely and talented Lisa Link. Welcome back to The View. Welcome back to Behind the Table. Speaker 3 (0:40) Thank you. That was so much fun. It went like this, though, having you there. Thank you. Speaker 4 (0:57) How does it feel? So it's season 30. First of all, what does that mean to you? Because I have this conversation with all former View hosts. You're never not a View host once you're a View host. Do Speaker 2 (1:06) you Speaker 4 (1:06) find that? Do people still reference it to you? How much of a part of your identity is it? Speaker 2 (1:10) Well, it really does seem like just yesterday, as cliche as that sounds, but it was 27 years ago. And I was 26 years old and considered the young one. The show has just changed so much. I remember the days when I would beg Bill Getty, our executive producer, may he rest in peace, to talk about politics. And he, I will never forget him saying, people don't care. Women don't care about politics who are sitting home at 11 a.m. And. Now to watch this show and politics is just such an integral part of the dialogue. It's front and center every day, yeah. It's just such a, it's Speaker 3 (1:51) a Speaker 2 (1:51) refreshing change. Also at the time, Barbara Walters was always trying to get interviews with certain people. So we had to be extra cautious. You had to tiptoe around some of the big stories. Yeah, so it's just changed a lot. I have to say, I'm always so in awe of all of you current hosts of The View. It would be really hard for me to do this show right now. I mean, I did the show 27 years ago before social media. Yeah. And so I, while there was some scrutiny, it was in no way to the level. that it is today. Everyone has an opinion and just the onslaught of opinions that you're getting. I, I'm, I'm so impressed and in awe of how you all deal with it. Oh, it's funny. Speaker 3 (2:37) Cause I, it's like, um, I also had, I'm going to make the comparison to parenting. I became a mom later and people say, how do you do it? And I'm like, it's all I know. That's kind of the same thing. Cause I was a fan when you were on the show and watching and so much of what I loved. And I love that you fought that fight behind the scenes about politics was. Your work has really been a devotion to moving important matters to the front. Like you've always been that way, which is why I really started to watch you from The View. It was I followed you from The View. But now looking at what the show is, it's the only iteration I've known. Social media, politics. And I think Speaker 4 (3:11) you're being very generous for sure. And social media definitely makes things tougher. And for people like Sarah who go out there and have to luckily she's good at blocking that stuff out. You were under tremendous scrutiny. I think you're giving yourself a little bit of a pass here because, first of all, you were the first replacement host in something. There's been 24 hosts now. What? 24. And you came in after Debbie Matanopoulos, who's guest hosting next week. And there was a lot. There were SNL skits. There was a lot. It was a big deal when she left the show. And there was a certain question about who was going to come in. And then, you know, you're getting a belly button ring on live television at 11 o'clock in the morning with Barbara Walters watching. That's a lot of scrutiny. Speaker 2 (3:51) Yeah, but it was different. And certainly whatever we said ended up in page six. And it got press in the mainstream media. But to deal with what people are saying. The anger. The sort of platform that everyone has. Yes. You know, and I'm the kind of person that will fixate on the one thing that is really negative and hateful, even after getting, you know, being inundated with really positive things. So. Anyway, it's just I applaud you and I really appreciate how you all handle it because I think it would be hard for me. I mean, I still, even though I'm not on television doing a live show every day, I'm still sensitive to it. Yeah. You must develop a thicker skin. I mean, Joy told me years ago, she's like, I just don't look at it. And that makes a difference, I'm sure. I think it's what you're saying Speaker 3 (4:44) is it's easier to believe the negative for a lot of people because I would say when it echoes your own inner voice, it gives it a credibility that now someone said that inner voice was right all along, that thing you fear the most. So I don't know if I've grown a thicker skin or the discipline of reminding myself I have to take the flattery with the criticism. Like it's all empty because I think Oprah said that. She said you have to take the good with the same seriousness you take the bad because none of these people know you. Speaker 2 (5:12) Yeah. So Speaker 3 (5:13) I Speaker 2 (5:13) mean, Brian, you know, you talk about how we were featured in SNL and so on, or we were derided when we were on SNL. But what's amazing to me about what you all deal with now is that you have the president of the United States. talking about you all and targeting you all and and and and just knowing that he is watching and listening to what you say is surreal and reacting to it publicly that's really surreal yeah Speaker 3 (5:46) now Speaker 2 (5:47) that you put it that way Speaker 4 (5:48) yeah Speaker 3 (5:48) i don't think it's top of Speaker 4 (5:50) mind when you're doing it no every once in a while uh and it's actually it's not even just donald trump i mean When Barack Obama came on before my time here, you know, he said it's Michelle's favorite show. I mean, the show has just been really important to the culture for a very long time. Speaker 2 (6:06) Starting with you guys. Well, it's funny because when Barack Obama gave that speech at the DNC so many years ago when John Kerry was running for president. I had the privilege of being at that convention and he came into the box where I was. And of course, everyone's so nervous. He just delivered the speech of his life. Speaker 1 (6:27) And Speaker 2 (6:27) he comes straight up to me and he goes, why'd you leave the view? And I just, I loved how, as you said, connected he is with the culture. It's great. Yes. Speaker 4 (6:38) I mean, so we've talked about this off camera a little bit about. what the pressures of being someone in their 20s on this show is. We talked about it with Star the other day because she was saying how hard it would be in 2026 to have someone that young with all this