Meghan McCain to depart The View

Variety

McCain, who joined The View in October 2017 and quickly became its outspoken conservative voice who often made headlines clashing with her co-hosts, is expected to announce her departure on today's show. The Daily Mail first reported the impending announcement, which was confirmed by other outlets. McCain is expected to depart with the final show of the season at the end of July. A representative from ABC News declined comment. According to Variety, "McCain made the decision herself to depart, and that recent rumblings about on-set feuds had nothing to do with her exit. McCain’s contract isn’t up yet, but earlier this summer, she approached ABC executives to ask to be released from her deal because she does not want to move back to New York City, after relocating to Washington D.C. during the pandemic, where she and her husband, political commentator and frequent Fox News personality, Ben Domenech, are raising their baby girl, Liberty." Meanwhile, Page Six reports that "ABC desperately fought to keep" McCain on The View and even offered her an ABC News contributor role. McCain still has two years left on her contract.

• UPDATE: Meghan McCain confirms her departure, blasting the media for their "deep misogyny and sexism" in covering The View: McCain said she's leaving The View after four years to spend more time with her newborn daughter after relocating to Washington, D.C. during the pandemic. “This show will continue. This show will probably be on long (after) all of us are here, like when we’re long gone,” McCain said after praising the long-running panel program, her co-hosts and producers effusively for six minutes. “The media needs to do a better job of covering the women on this show in general.” She added: “It is not a fair fight. We are covered with deep misogyny and sexism by the media. If five men were doing what we do every day, I really do believe we’d probably have a Pulitzer Prize at this point. It’s always reduced to really reductive coverage and I implore the media to do better as they cover the rest of you going forward.” McCain also called it a "privilege" to work with her co-hosts. “On a professional note, this show is one of the hands-down greatest, most exhilarating, wonderful privileges of my entire life,” she said. (Watch McCain's announcement.)