Two major national advertisers are no longer supporting ABC's "The View." Healthcare company Johnson & Johnson and egg distributor Eggland's Best yanked their ads from the ABC morning show following the negative fallout over Joy Behar and Michelle Collins' comments on Miss Colorado Kelley Johnson's nurse monologue at the Miss America pageant on Sunday, Entertainment Tonight Online reported.
"Johnson & Johnson values and appreciates nurses and we respect the critical role they play in our healthcare system. We disagree with recent comments on daytime television about the nursing profession, and we have paused our advertising accordingly," reads a statement Johnson & Johnson posted Wednesday on its Facebook page.
"We're committed to raising the level of awareness about the skill and knowledge that the profession requires, and we send our thanks today and every day to the millions of nurses who touch the lives of patients and their families. #NursesHeal #NursesUnite."
Eggland's Best also took to Facebook on Wednesday and posted a similar statement, which read, "Eggland's Best appreciates nurses and values the important role they play in family health. In light of the comments about the nursing profession recently made on daytime television we will no longer be advertising on the show in question. Eggland's Best believes in providing consumers the freshest, best tasting and most nutritious egg possible and we thank the millions of nurses across the country who work to improve the lives of their patients and families."
"The View" and ABC have not commented on losing the two sponsors.
Earlier this week, Collins and Behar made fun of Johnson's monologue earlier this week, with Collins saying, "She came out in a nurse's uniform and basically read her emails out loud and shockingly did not win." Behar added, "Why does she have a doctor's stethoscope on?"
The show's comments become viral after individuals in the medical care profession, as well as supporters of nurses, took to social media to support Miss Colorado under the hashtag #NursesUnite. The movement called for the co-hosts to apologize to those in the nursing profession and noted the importance of nurses in the medical field. Behar and Collins both issued an apology during Wednesday's show.
Johnson, who completed her nursing degree in April, talked about he #Nursesunite backlash, during an episode on "The Ellen DeGeneres' Show."
"To see it trend on Facebook and Twitter, especially to bring all these nurses together and have everybody standing up for our profession and giving them the voice that they deserve. They work so hard and they are life savers. That's all the message I wanted to give," she admitted. "It's about them; it's not about me."
