During the latest episode of The View, Joy Behar left viewers in disbelief when she shared a kiss on the lips with married actor Anson Mount. This unexpected moment unfolded live on air, capturing the attention of many.
The incident occurred just as the 53-year-old star of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds made his entrance from backstage, warmly greeting the show’s panelists. It was in these friendly exchanges that the surprise kiss happened.
Mount, who tied the knot with photographer Darah Trang in 2018, first made his way to Whoopi Goldberg and Sara Haines before approaching Behar, who is 83 years old.
In the midst of friendly greetings, Behar welcomed Mount with a cheek kiss, and then playfully puckered her lips, leading Mount to engage in an unexpected kiss on the mouth.
Behar further surprised the audience by wrapping her arm around Mount, seemingly inviting him to linger for a more extended kiss, turning the light-hearted exchange into a moment of buzzworthy television.
After he sat down, the audience laughed as co-host Sunny Hostin handed him a tissue to wipe off Behar’s lipstick from his mouth.
The Daily Mail has reached out to representatives for The View, Mount and Behar for comment on the kiss.
Joy Behar, 83, shocked the audience on Wednesday’s episode of The View when she pulled married guest Anson Mount, 53, for a kiss on the mouth live on air
After he sat down, the audience laughed as co-host Sunny Hostin handed him a tissue to wipe off Behar’s lipstick from his mouth
Hostin later quipped, ‘no wonder Joy has been talking about you all morning’ to which Behar replied, ‘I’m old, but I’m not dead.’
‘That’s it, Joy, because I am,’ Mount said in response to Behar’s joke.
‘Are you okay?’ Goldberg asked Behar.
‘I need a little bit of a touch-up,’ she replied, adding, ‘Last time he was here, he brought me flowers for my birthday, and it’s never been the same between us.’
‘Well, I got married,’ he stated.
‘That’s what I mean!’ Behar replied.
After the moment went viral, Mount revealed that his wife thought the on-air kiss with Behar was ‘hilarious.’
‘I asked my wife to promise me she wouldn’t divorce me. She thought it was hilarious,’ he said in an interview with TV Insider.
As for why the moment became a viral sensation, he said, ‘I think people just assume that I’m not around anymore because I have two young kids. I think maybe they were surprised to see that I’m still alive.’
The actor said his last appearance on The View was 13 years ago.
‘I brought her flowers for her birthday, and I guess I made an impression,’ he joked. ‘So, we’ll see what she does the next time.’
The Star Trek: Strange New Worlds actor had just walked out from backstage and was greeting all the panelists when the kiss took place
Hostin then quipped, ‘no wonder Joy has been talking about you all morning’ to which Behar replied, ‘I’m old, but I’m not dead’
‘Last time he was here, he brought me flowers for my birthday, and it’s never been the same between us,’ Behar said. ‘Well, I got married,’ he replied
After the moment went viral, Mount said that his wife Darah Trang thought the kiss was ‘hilarious.’ The pair have been married since 2018; Seen in 2019
Mount is best known for starring as Captain Christopher Pike on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and Star Trek: Discovery; Seen in a 2017 still from Star Trek: Discovery
Mount and his wife share two daughters: Clover, four, and Violet, one.
Though Mount and Trang laughed off the moment, not all viewers were entertained.
‘He’s married. She crossed the line,’ one wrote underneath a TikTok video showing the kiss.
‘He plays it off well but I think she crossed a line,’ someone else added.
‘What would the view think if a man did that to a woman,’ another questioned.
Mount is best known for starring as Captain Christopher Pike on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and Star Trek: Discovery.