Julie Chen Moonves Revealed a Shocking Feud With Her Former Co-Host Who ‘Completely Iced’ Her Out for 8 Years

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Julie Chen Moonves new audiobook, But First, God, is revealing lots of secrets after her exit from The Talk amid husband Les Moonves’ sexual misconduct allegations in 2018. However, one co-host feud came long before her daytime departure: it during the show’s first season.

Moonves recalled in her book that she and Leah Remini, who was on the show for only one season, were BFFs until she returned to the studio after a vacation and noticed a “very, very icy” atmosphere. She claimed, “Only to find out that a couple of my cohosts, while I was away, went to the network and said, ‘We can’t work with Julie anymore. She’s too uptight. She’s not one of us. If she stays, we go.'” That’s not how it played out, though. 

“And they ended up leaving and I ended up staying,” she added. It was not only a “hurtful and challenging” time in her career, but Moonves felt “betrayed” by Remini, whom she considered her ally. The women “completely iced” each other out for 8 years until a chance encounter with Remini’s husband, Angelo Pagán, took the feud from a boil to a simmer. 

“I went to a party where her husband Angelo was an entertainer,” explained Moonves. “I could feel God softening my heart. If I didn’t have Jesus in my life at that point, I wouldn’t have gone out of my way to hunt him down and say hello.” After taking a selfie and getting Remini’s digits (again), the women “buried the hatchet” in a phone conversation. 

It was an important lesson for Moonves, who believes her faith led her back to Remini. “And today we’re probably closer than ever. Leah did try to apologize to me a year after our friendship blew up, but I was too hard-hearted to accept it,” she concluded. “Without faith in my life, I didn’t understand the importance of forgiveness, but the Bible tells us very clearly to forgive one another.”

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