'View' co-hosts berate ‘annoying’ climate activists who threw paint on Monet painting: ‘Leave art alone’
ABCs "The View" co-hosts slammed climate protestors who attempted to trash a Monet painting in Sweden this week, claiming they are ruining everyones days with the actions, even those who agree with them on the issue. Co-host Joy Behar ripped the recent climate stunt as "annoying," while co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin agreed, calling it "counterproductive" for climate activists. Whoopi Goldberg rebuked the protestors, declaring that vandalizing art is "not your job," even if the earth is suffering. 'THE VIEW' EXPLODES OVER CRITICISM OF DRAG QUEENS: THEY 'DON'T EVEN LIKE CHILDREN!' The points came up while the co-hosts were discussing "Eat, Pray, Love" author Elizabeth Gilbert postponing the publishing of her new book, "The Snow Forest," due to Ukrainian critics slamming it for being set in Russia. Though the book has nothing to do with Ukraines current ordeal at the hands of its invaders and merely provided Russia as a setting for the work, Gilbert delayed the release indefinitely, citing the pain of the oppressed Ukrainian people. The ladies disagreed with Gilbert caving to critics and mounted a defense of not stifling art simply based on the politics of the day. They then applied that point to the recent string of climate activists attempting to vandalize great western art in galleries across Europe. Most recently, two female climate activists were arrested in Stockholm, Sweden for throwing a paint-like substance on the classic Claude Monet painting, "The Artist's Garden At Giverny" at Swedens National Museum this week. The painting was covered with glass, but museum staff have reportedly been analyzing the piece to see if any damage occurred. The attempted act of vandalism is one of many similar climate change protests, aimed to shock bystanders into taking the threat of climate change more seriously. MAYOR OF FLORENCE, ITALY, SHOVES, CURSES AT CLIMATE ACTIVISTS FOR VANDALIZING HISTORIC BUILDING Though even the liberal ladies of "The View" insisted that these protests miss the mark. In the middle of the discussion on Gilberts book, Behar brought up the Monet debacle, initially reporting on set that the painting had been "destroyed" before correcting herself later in the segment. Though she agreed with climate protest in general, Behar disapproved of this method. She said, "Now I agree with climate activism because the planet is on fire. Were going to have that smoke again from Canada. It doesnt stop. But why are you using art?" "Its so annoying in a way to use art as your cudgel. Dont use art. Leave art alone," she declared, adding, "Art is there to teach you something, to illuminate something in the world. That Monet painting what is the point of that?" After asking her co-hosts if they saw the point, Alyssa Farah Griffin chimed in on how it was "counterproductive" protest. She said, "No, and its counterproductive to the cause because it makes people frame them as, Look at these extremists, when its an important issue." After more discussion of Gilberts book, Goldberg blasted the attempted trashing of the Monet painting, saying, "I think we should be careful when people go up and throw paint on stuff. Its my same argument with the libraries: If you dont want to read a book or you dont want your kids reading a book, tell the librarian not to give your kids this book. But dont stop my kid form reading the book if my kid wants to read it." She continued, saying, "I feel the same way about art. Dont stop me from seeing it. Cause you dont know, Im an activist too, but now you ruined the day for me. So why are you doing that?" She then rebuked the vandals, saying, "Thats not your job. Your job is to go out and make people understand why we need to be careful about the earth, not to ruin art thats been giving pleasure for years to people."