The View Misses an Opportunity to Ask Julia Haart About Being Fired From Elite World Group

Reality television fans were in for a treat this week when My Unorthodox Life star Julia Haart joined The View's panel as a guest co-host. Haart has been in the headlines lately after she was fired from Elite World Group, the company owned by her estranged husband Silvio Scaglia, but you wouldn't know it from her two days at the table, as the co-hosts shied away from asking any questions about her high-profile divorce, or Scaglia's claim that Haart "illegally" withdrew $850,000 from a company account.

With The View's numbers depleted — Whoopi Goldberg is in Scotland filming Anansi Boys, and Sara Haines is out with a stomach bug — Haart filled in on Wednesday and Thursday. The ex-Elite World Group CEO and reality TV star struggled to break into the discussion at first, but this morning, she took center stage as the ladies asked her about her memoir, "Brazen." Though co-hosts aren't afraid to ask the serious questions, they kept today's Q&A to Haart's Orthodox Jewish upbringing, her decision to leave the community, and the response to her story.

"I define my life into two parts: the first part, until I walked out the door, is what was done to me," said Haart. "The second part since I've left is what I've managed to accomplish. And I didn't want to be a victim. I didn't want people — to be defined by what happened to me. I wanted to prove myself first, show a little of what I had, and then I felt safe to tell my story."

When Sunny Hostin brought up Haart's accomplishments since leaving the Orthodox Jewish community, it seemed as if the My Unorthodox Life star would finally address her firing and the allegations of theft. "You created a shoe brand, you became the creative director of La Perla, and then CEO of the modeling and talent agency Elite World Group," said Hostin. However, she declined to mention that Haart is no longer CEO of EWG, instead asking, "What is your advice to other women who are thinking about taking a chance and just completely changing your life?"

In February, Haart was fired from EWG and filed for divorce from Scaglia just hours later. In response to the firing, the reality star sought a restraining order against her estranged husband, who she claims threatened to kill her. For his part, Scaglia is suing Haart for "illegally" transferring $850,000 from a company account to a limited liability company under her own name, an allegation she has denied.

Haart seemed emboldened by Hostin's lack of follow-through, and she proceeded to launch into a lengthy story about how zoo animals are easily fooled by false enclosures and don't bother escaping because they think they can't. "That whole thing is most people's impediment. We think we can't. We think there's a ceiling, and it's in here," she said, pointing to her brain. "So look straight ahead! You! Can! Jump!"

If only someone at The View was willing to do the same.

Claire Spellberg Lustig is the Senior Editor at Primetimer and a scholar of The View. Follow her on Twitter at @c_spellberg.