Joy Behar Faces Backlash Over On-Air Kiss With Anson Mount

The interaction occurred when Mount, the 53-year-old star of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, greeted the panel. After sharing a hug and a cheek kiss with Behar, the host leaned in further, prompting the actor to meet her for a brief kiss on the mouth. The studio audience responded with laughter, and the co-hosts turned the moment into a recurring joke throughout the segment, with Sunny Hostin offering Mount a tissue to remove Behar’s lipstick. Behar quipped, “I’m old, but I’m not dead,” to which Mount jokingly replied, “That’s it, Joy, because I am.”

Social media response proved far less forgiving. Critics labeled the exchange “disgusting” and “desperate,” with many users arguing that the power dynamic and gender roles would have triggered a severe professional backlash had the roles been reversed. Some viewers claimed Mount appeared visibly uncomfortable, though others defended the interaction as harmless, friendly chemistry. Mount later addressed the controversy in an interview with TV Insider, revealing that his wife, photographer Darah Trang, found the entire episode “hilarious” and that he had jokingly asked her to promise not to divorce him over the incident.