Jenny McCarthy to Join ‘The View’ on ABC

The show’s creator, Barbara Walters, announced on the air Monday morning that Ms. McCarthy would become the next co-host on the program.

Her selection had been widely expected; she has been a frequent guest host on the program and her name was at the top of the list for prospective permanent hosts.

Ms. McCarthy will fill one of the empty chairs left by the departures of Joy Behar and Elisabeth Hasselbeck, both of whom had long been regulars on the program. Ms. Hasselbeck left for Fox News last week and Ms. Behar is scheduled to leave in August.

Ms. McCarthy will start on “The View” on Sept. 9.

To accept the position, Ms. McCarthy had to win a separation from the VH1 network, where she had been hosting a late-night show. That show has not been scoring big ratings.

Ms. McCarthy, 40, has had roles in a few short-lived situation comedies but is probably best known on television for the game show “Singled Out” on MTV, where she was a host in the 1990s.

In a statement, Ms. Walters said, “Jenny brings us intelligence as well as warmth and humor.”

“She can be serious and outrageous,” Ms. Walters added. “She has connected with our audience and offers a fresh point of view.”

But Ms. McCarthy has also been the subject of intense criticism from groups associated with autism for her frequent statements tying the condition — from which she has said her son suffered — to vaccines for immunization. That much-debated and widely disproved theory has led to unnecessary illnesses in children, according to child health experts.

One group, Every Child by Two, which has begun a campaign to urge parents to vaccinate their babies, sent a letter on Monday to producers of “The View,” including Ms. Walters, saying:

“Ms. McCarthy’s unfounded claims that vaccines cause autism have been one of the greatest impediments to public health in recent decades. These false assertions, in addition to her condemnation of public health officials and the medical community over all, has spread fear among young parents, which has led to an increased number of children who have not received lifesaving vaccines.”

Lauri Hogan, a spokeswoman for “The View,” said the show had made no request to Ms. McCarthy that she keep the vaccine issue off limits.

“All the hosts speak openly on a variety of topics and as has been stated repeatedly, Hot Topics are not scripted,” Ms. Hogan said in an e-mail message, referring to the part of the show in which the hosts discuss issues in the news.

Even after naming Ms. McCarthy, “The View” will still have decisions to make, first to fill the other current vacancy, and then whether another person will be added when Ms. Walters herself leaves the show a year from August.

Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/16/business/media/jenny-mccarthy-to-join-the-view-on-abc.html?partner=rss&emc=rss