The Wrong View: Talk Show Under Fire for HIV-Related Comments

thehollywoodgossip - This is a first: The View is facing controversy, and it's NOT over something Elisabeth Hasselbeck said.

In fact, that conservative commentator - whose most recent example of opinionated nonsense involved a shot at Erin Andrews - has nothing to do with why GLADD is taking aim at this ABC talk show.

Instead, the organization has its sights set on Sherri Shepherd and D.L. Hughley, the June 22 guest host. On that date, the pair talked about the influx of HIV among African-Americans and blamed it on gay black men that were in the closet, aka "on the down low."

"When you look at the prevalence of HIV in the African American community, it's primarily young women who are getting it from men who are on the down low," Hughley said.

Added Shepherd, offering no data to back up her assertion: "It's so big in the black community with women because they're having sex with men who have been having sex with men."

In response, GLADD has taken out a full-page ad in Variety that reads:

"The Centers for Disease Control has publicly disproven this myth. And since June 22, thousands of people have written to ABC, asking that The View provide correct information to viewers. Unfortunately, those requests have been greeted with silence from both ABC and The View."

Panelists on the show are known for expressing their opinions and have the right to speak their minds, of course. But when making grand claims such as the one above, it would nice if they relied on facts to support their statements.