By Isabella Torregiani
1:32pm PDT, Jun 23, 2025
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The View cohost
Sara Haines issued a public retraction on social media following comments she made during the Wednesday, June 18, episode of the show.
During the discussion, Haines criticized the freedoms given to women and girls in Iran — a statement that sparked backlash after the episode aired.
Keep reading for more on her clarification…MORE:
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Sara Haines addressed the controversy in a statement shared to her Instagram Story on Thursday, June 19: "Yesterday on the show, I spoke about the treatment of girls and women in Iran and misspoke by conflating the theocratic rule of the Ayatollah in Iran with the Taliban's control of Afghanistan," she wrote. "To clarify: girls and women in Afghanistan are currently banned from attending school, while in Iran, women do have access to education and make up a significant portion of university students."
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During the episode, Sara Haines joined Whoopi Goldberg and Alyssa Farah Griffin in a conversation about life for women in Iran.
Griffin condemned Iran's human rights record, saying, "Let's just remember too, the Iranians literally throw gay people off of buildings. They don't adhere to basic human rights."
Goldberg pushed back, pointing to the United States' own history of abuse. "Let's not do that," she fired back. "Because if we start with that, we have been known in this country to tie gay folks to the car. I'm sorry, they used to just keep hanging Black people."
Haines then weighed in, focusing on women's access to education and property rights, stating, "They are not doing well there. They are not educated, they can't own property."
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Following the backlash, Sara Haines returned to social media to clarify her stance and correct her earlier claims.
"When referencing education, I was speaking specifically about access under authoritarian regimes — not the capabilities or achievements of Iranian women," she said. "I want to be clear: I was not implying that women in Iran are uneducated or making any pejorative generalizations."
Haines closed her message by standing by her overall concerns while still acknowledging her slip-up: "Despite their differences, both governments impose serious restrictions on women's rights and freedoms," she concluded.
The controversial The View segment aired just days before the U.S. launched airstrikes on three nuclear sites in Iran.
