Netflix’s gripping new documentary, Unknown Number: The High School Catfish, has had a chokehold on viewers ever since it dropped on the streaming platform last month. Now that The View has finally returned for Season 29, the co-hosts are also getting in on the conversation.
The shocking documentary follows the case of Kendra Licari, who was convicted and sentenced to prison in 2023 for relentlessly cyberbullying her teenage daughter, Lauryn Licari. The Michigan mother was charged with two counts of stalking a minor, two counts of communicating with another to commit a crime, and one count of obstruction of justice. She ultimately pled guilty to two counts of stalking a minor, while the other charges were dropped.
“No Mother’s Day card for her!” Joy Behar quipped after learning of Kendra’s harrowing crimes. The disgraced mother sent her daughter thousands of anonymous text messages telling her to kill herself and mocking her physical appearance. Some of the messages also included sexually explicit content, telling Lauryn that she wasn’t satisfying her boyfriend.
With Kendra now out of prison and participating in the documentary, Sara Haines noted that she “still shows almost zero sign of remorse or accountability” for her actions, prompting Behar to call out, “She’s psychotic!”
“You never expect your own mother to be the one who’s doing it,” Behar added. “That’s really out there. And she’s out [of prison]? Why isn’t she in a psychiatric facility?”
The topic lent itself to a bigger conversation about the “digital age,” with Sunny Hostin saying, “In its purest form, social media was supposed to bring people together and make connections … Now it’s so divisive that it’s leading to something like this.”
Alyssa Farah Griffin, for her part, took a moment to recognize that young people growing up on social media aren’t the only problem.
“The adults are the problem, too,” she argued. “If you are unhappy with yourself, if you’re lost, if you have trauma you didn’t deal with, people can turn to the darkest things, even against their own child. It’s unbelievable.”
The View airs on weekdays at 11/10c on ABC.
If you or someone you know is struggling with their mental health, call or text the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) hotline at 800-950-NAMI (6264).