“The View,” which has been getting (bed)panned by nurses ever since co-hosts Michelle Collins and Joy Behar seemingly mocked Kelley Johnson, a RN who competed as Miss Colorado during Sunday’s Miss America contest, has now lost Johnson & Johnson and Eggland’s Best as advertisers.
On Monday, while discussing the pageant from the evening before, Collins made fun of Johnson’s talent when she came on stage in scrubs and a stethoscope and gave a monologue about being a nurse who works with someone with Alzheimer’s. “She came out in a nurse’s uniform and basically read her emails out loud and shockingly did not win,” cracked Collins before adding, “I was like, that’s not a real talent.” Behar then jumped in and asked, “Why does she have a doctor’s stethoscope on?” Collin then noted, “She helps patients with Alzheimer’s, which I know is not funny, but I swear you had to see it” (video below).
Not long after #NurseUnite became a trending topic on Twitter, with RNs everywhere posting their anger at “The View.” The National Nurses United (NNU), which is the U.S.’s largest organization of nurses, put out a statement condemning the show “trivializing” nurses. The NNU stated, “Nurses are trained, college-educated professionals… [who] spend the most time with patients, observing signs and symptoms of illness, reactions to treatment, and changes in condition, to which they must respond promptly and effectively… They use tools such as their own stethoscopes. Given the amount of time nurses spend with patients, it would be fair to say nurses use them more often than doctors.”
The NNU also noted, “Johnson’s talent may not have come draped in a sequined evening gown. Saving patients often happens in nondescript scrubs, as a matter of course, all in a day’s work. That is a talent for which we owe nurses respect, if not our very lives.”
On Wednesday, in an effort to resuscitate themselves, Collins said on Wednesday’s show, “We love nurses. We adore you. We respect you.” She further tried to save face by stating, “You’re the most compassionate people. I was not talking about nurses. We were talking about the talent competition, and it got misconstrued.” For her part, Behar admitted, she was “not paying attention” and simply saw “a woman wearing an outfit with a stethoscope, and I’m thinking, ‘Is she in a costume?'” She went on clarify, “I didn’t know she was a nurse. I’m used to seeing [contestants] in gowns and bathing suits… It’s not like I was trying to be funny.”
As a result of “The View” debacle with nurses, Eggland’s Best is no longer advertising on the show. The company tweeted on Thursday, “Eggland’s Best Supports Nurses Nationwide #nursesunite #nursesheal.” Similarly, pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson has suspended its ads with “The View,” and similarly tweeted support for nurses. Along with a video of a nurse attending to, and easing a sick child in a hospital, Johnson & Johnson tweeted, “It takes a special person to be a nurse. #NursesUnite #NursesHeal.”
Tell Extreme Entertainment what you think of the host’s apologies, and Johnson & Johnson and England’s Best pulling out as advertisers.
0 comments:
Post a Comment