Famed thriller writer John Grisham stirred up controversy Wednesday during an appearance on The View when he said he was thinking about writing a second book about assassinations of Supreme Court Justices.
'I wrote a great book called "The Pelican Brief" in which two Supreme Court Justices were assassinated, and I’ve thought about doing it again,' he said, prompting immediate laughter from the audience.
Longtime host Joy Behar was quick to jump in and attempt to explain Grisham's sinister words.
'No, no, no, no!' she exclaimed, before Whoopi Goldberg said, 'Writing part two! He's talking about writing part two!'
'It's all fiction, don't get upset,' said Grisham, before going on to slam the current Supreme Court.
The ladies of The View jumped in to defend author John Grisham after he joked about being inspired by the current Supreme Court to write a second book in which justices are assassinated
The novelist and lawyer was on the show promoting his latest work, 'Camino Ghosts,' the audiobook which is read by Goldberg.
Behar asked Grisham his opinion of the current court and whether he might consider writing a book or film script about some of its recent, controversial rulings.
Grisham, 69, was quick to weigh in with a heavy dose of criticism.
'The court has never looked this bad,' he said.
'In my lifetime, some of the rulings, the ethical challenges, it went downhill in 2000 when five Republicans on the court chose to elect a president, it was political, Bush versus Gore, that’s when it all started really going downhill.'
He told the women he thinks the court gets worse every term, but because the justices are appointed for life, he has 'no solution, because you can't get rid of them.'
'The solution is, make them all retire at the age of 75. Every federal judge should have to retire at the age of 75,' he then declared.
Grisham, after writing 50 books, many of which have topped best-seller lists around the world, has acquired a large and solid fan base.
But some were irked by the author's move to promote his political views on the famously liberal show.
Following his appearance, some fans of Grisham's appeared to turn on the author, calling his hatred for and apparent threat against the Supreme Court unacceptable
Grisham, who is out promoting his 50th book 'Camino Ghosts,' joked about writing a sequel to 'The Pelican Brief,' a book in which members of the high court are killed
On X, several Grisham fans lambasted him after the appearance.
'Hey John Grisham! I used to idolize you as an author and one of the best legal fiction writers ever. You just said you want to see Supreme Court justices die!! Never again will read or watch your stuff. I believe the south will respond the same way,' wrote one fan, or maybe former fan.
Another user wrote: 'I saw this and thought to myself this should be reported... It's not a joke because you'll get some crazy loon who will carry it out...And John Grisham isn't doing himself any favors with half the country now against him.'
'I now, am getting rid of every da** John Grisham book I have. Traitor,' someone else added.
Ahead of Grisham's interview on Wednesday, First Lady Jill Biden also made an appearance where she imagined a dystopian American future if Donald Trump regains the presidency this fall.
'We cannot take things for granted, and think of the Supreme Court for God's sake.
'Talk about things getting worse? Can you imagine if we put any more Republicans on the Supreme Court? No! We will lose all of our rights!' she said.
