Earlier this week, The View host Joy Behar, who is known for saying things at the wrong time, shared that she was considered to play Ted Lasso’s mother on the third and final season of the hit Apple TV+ comedy. While that would have been…interesting, Behar said she ultimately turned the role down because she didn’t want to get sweaty. But the cast of Ted Lasso seems to have a different take.
While at a PEOPLE event this week, the Ted Lasso lads Jason Sudeikis and Brendan Hunt seemed confused by Behar’s claim that she was offered the role of Dottie Lasso. When asked about the rumors, Sudeikis responded, “I… no. Joy Behar? From The View?” he exclaimed, while Hunt confirmed the duo has no idea. “Respectfully, it would be news to us. We just work there,” he added. The role ultimately went to Becky Ann Baker.
While it would be easy to call Behar a liar (she surely marches to the beat of her own View), sources told EW that the Ted Lasso staff did reach out to Behar about the possibility of playing Lasso’s mom. Behar had probably already declined, which is why Hunt and Sudeikis were unaware. Or they were playing dumb, which would also be respectable at a time like this.
On the other hand, maybe Behar is just planting the seeds for her own sports comedy show. She seems to have a lot of opinions about football these days.