The View cohost Sara Haines slammed a mentalist who revealed her real ATM PIN on TV, saying she’s “never felt so violated on air.”She said Oz Pearlman reassured the cohosts in a meeting before the segment that he would not reveal the real numbers.Haines stressed that she did not share her real pin with Pearlman, and that he guessed it correctly.
Sara Haines is speaking out about mentalist Oz Pearlman, The View interview guest who correctly guessed — and verbally revealed — her real ATM PIN on Tuesday’s live broadcast — and exposing what happened before the segment that led to her being so upset.
After cohost Joy Behar‘s recollection on Thursday’s episode that Haines was “rage crying” on set amid a “nervous breakdown” following the incident, Haines elaborated on the latest installment of the Behind the Table podcast.
“The backstory that people don’t know is we were asked to meet with him 40 minutes prior to him being on the show. By the way, in all my years on any TV show, when a magician, illusionist, mentalist, whatever the people are, we’ve never had to pre-meet with anyone,” Haines said to producer Brian Teta, who also pointed out that it was not “professional” for Haines to have used the word “f—” on the air upon reacting to Pearlman’s actions in the moment.
Haines said that Pearlman, whose skills were previously highlighted on America’s Got Talent, asked the cohosts to get out their phones and type their real PIN numbers into their devices, but reassured her that “we’re not going to use your real PIN” on the subsequent broadcast. Haines claimed that “he repeated that” sentiment to her several times.
Sara Haines on ‘The View’.
ABC
The 48-year-old added that “it’s a trust thing” that she felt with Pearlman, and that’s why she agreed to move forward with not mentioning the prior meeting on the air at the time.
“When we went out, and he read the numbers, it was an impressive routine he’d been working on for 40 minutes or whatever, but the part that got me, my reaction — and I shouldn’t be swearing on the air — was not, ‘Oh my gosh, you’re such a good mentalist’ or whatever. It was, ‘You reassured me three or four times in that room we’re not going to use your real PIN number, we’re coming up with an imaginary one,'” said Haines. “I’ve never felt so violated on air, someone meeting with you and saying over and over, ‘Play with me here,’ kind of like, I’ll protect you.”
Haines reiterated that was why she was extremely upset by the reveal, and took issue with feedback from viewers who suggested she simply change her PIN and move on.
The TV personality said that such a move carries more weight, especially since she’s a public figure on a show where “we’re targets for a lot of things,” she told Teta.
“To have someone do something like that that’s so private, we hear about bank fraud and stolen identities,” she said. “And then a guest comes on our show and repeats my PIN after reassuring he wouldn’t?”
Haines stressed that she did not, at any point, reveal to Pearlman what her real PIN was, and that he guessed it correctly with no prior information.
Still, she said, “He never apologized. He kind of zipped out of here” after the segment.
“Later in the day, I was kind of waiting to see if he’d reach out on social to say, ‘Hey, that was a poor move to get clicks, I’m sorry about that.’ He never did,” recalled Haines. “And then he tried to collaborate on a [social media] post with my reaction, to make him look like this great whatever he is.”
Joy Behar, Sara Haines, Ana Navarro, Oz Pearlman, Sunny Hostin, and Alyssa Farah Griffin on ‘The View’.
ABC
She continued, “He tried to post it, and I don’t like someone that will sell a human violation for clickbait. He’s posting like crazy, every article about him, and he thinks it’s great. I’ve literally, in all my years in television, never been violated where someone lied.”
Haines again emphasized why the moment impacted her so deeply, telling Teta that “when it comes to our private lives, which go beyond us, they’re our partners, they’re our kids. It was a complete dismissal of all of that, for a click.”
Pearlman has not responded to Entertainment Weekly’s multiple requests for comment since Tuesday.
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After the live show earlier this week, The View removed Pearlman’s reveal upon uploading the episode (and clips from it) to YouTube.
Earlier Thursday, Behar characterized Haines’ post-show reaction as “rage crying,” telling the audience that Haines was “so annoyed and angry” that “tears were flowing” in the moment.
The View airs weekdays on ABC.