‘Star Trek’ Actor Anson Mount Reveals How His Wife Really Reacted After Joy Behar’s On Air Kiss
Press tours for beloved franchises tend to follow a familiar rhythm, with actors hopping from panel to panel and repeating the same talking points about their upcoming season. That was supposed to be the plan for ‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ star Anson Mount this week, as he made the rounds promoting the show’s fourth season ahead of its Paramount+ premiere. Instead, one stop on that tour turned into the moment everyone was talking about by the next morning.
Mount appeared on ‘The View’ to discuss the franchise’s milestone year, with the series marking ‘Star Trek”s 60th anniversary alongside the new season. He was there to talk about the fifth and final season on the horizon for ‘Strange New Worlds,’ along with his history playing Captain Christopher Pike. The appearance seemed routine enough, right up until he reached the end of the co-hosts’ table.
As Mount greeted the panel, Joy Behar pulled the married actor in for a kiss on the lips, drawing cheers from the studio audience and visibly stunned reactions from her fellow co-hosts. The embrace lasted several seconds rather than the quick peck he had given the other hosts, with Mount comically lifting one foot off the ground mid kiss. Sara Haines sat with her mouth open, Sunny Hostin pointed at the moment in disbelief, and Alyssa Farah Griffin buried her face in her hands.
Sunny Hostin quickly handed Mount a tissue to wipe away Behar’s lipstick, joking that it explained why Joy had been talking about him all morning. Behar owned the moment without hesitation, telling the crowd she may be old but she is not dead, to which Mount fired back that it would be the last thing she saw because he was about to die of embarrassment. Whoopi Goldberg attempted to steer the conversation back toward the actual interview, though the room needed a beat to recover.
The real punchline came later that day, when Mount sat down with a separate outlet to unpack what had just happened on live television. Speaking to TV Insider, he admitted the first thing he did afterward was check in at home, joking that he had asked his wife to promise she would not divorce him over the smooch, and that she found the whole thing hilarious. He added that people probably assume he has disappeared from the spotlight since becoming a father to two young kids, so the moment was a reminder that he is, in his words, still very much alive.
Mount also revealed this was not his first run in with Behar, recalling a previous visit where he brought her flowers for her birthday and joking that he must have made quite the impression this time around. The conversation on ‘The View’ also veered into his career, including a look back at his breakout role opposite Britney Spears in ‘Crossroads’, which Griffin brought up as the film approaches its 25th anniversary.
Between the surprise kiss and the flashback to his ‘Crossroads’ days, Mount’s stop on ‘The View’ ended up generating more buzz than most scripted ‘Star Trek’ trailers manage on their own. Do you think Joy Behar’s on air kiss was a harmless bit or a step too far for a married guest, and is Anson Mount’s wife the real MVP of this entire story?
