ABC Bleeps “Jesus” From The Delayed Broadcast of a TV Show–Truth!
Summary of eRumor:
It is alleged that ABC edited out the use of the name “Jesus” in a release of the morning talk show THE VIEW.
The eRumor says that Joy Behar, one of the hosts of the show issued a heart-felt “Thank you Jesus” for the success of her weight-loss campaign.
Her reference to Jesus was broadcast during the live show, but on the delayed West Coast release of the program, it was allegedly blocked.
The Truth:
The eRumor circulated in several forms.
One of them (below) is a letter from the Rev. Jerry Falwell. Another is a WorldNews.com article based on a report from the Media Research Center.
The story is true.
It happened to the May 23, 2002 broadcast of THE VIEW, which is also hosted by Meredith Vieira, Star Jones, and Lisa Ling.
The protest against ABC is by Christians who interpreted the incident as being anti-religious or anti-Christian. ABC told CNN, however, that the name of Jesus came up in a humorous way and that the decision to bleep it was not meant to be one of disrespect to Jesus or to Christians but to be sensitive to those who might have been offended with the humorous us of it. ABC said that the name Jesus can be used in a respectful way, but the network prohibits it from being used in exclamations.
The eRumor gives the impression that Joy Behar’s comment was one of saying thanks to Jesus for her weight loss, but the script shows that it was more flippant than that. Behar had been dieting and keeping track of her progress on the air. During the May 23 program, Meredith Vieira made a comment about the fact that Behar’s ordeal of daily weigh-ins was now ended. Behar’s joyful acknowledgement appears to over the end of the diet.
TruthOrFiction.com viewed a video of the original broadcast. Here is the transcript:
Meredith Vieira: “So yesterday, yesterday if you saw this show, you know it was the last day of the weigh-in, the scale is gone.”
Joy Behar: “Yes, and thank you, thank you, Jesus, is all I have to say! Goodbye to that damn scale and this whole diet. I’m sick of it!”
The comment comes across as humorous gratitude for the end of the diet.
The Falwell letter asks what would have happened if the name of Jesus had been used in vain instead of praise. Would it have been taken out? ABC says that’s what happened…a use of the name of Jesus in a way other than praise and that’s why it was taken out.
Critics, however, say it is “political correctness run amok.” Baher herself objected to the comment being taken out.
The truth is probably somewhere in the middle. It was not a heart-felt expression of praise to Jesus but was probably not meant to be disrespectful either.
Baher describes herself as an “Italian Catholic.”