The Empire State Building has long held the practice of illuminating itself in special colors to honor certain people and noteworthy events, be they celebratory or solemn (as in the case with terror attacks). 

On Tuesday, the iconic building paid homage to The View's 20th season anniversary by lighting up in the talk show's colors of blue, teal and orange. The talk show, which has struggled with ratings and a string of controversial hosts over the years, seems an odd choice for such a grand gesture -- particularly when the Empire State Building has refused to honor those most deserving the distinction. 

The Media Research Center (MRC) learned that while the Empire State Building celebrated The View, it rejected the Catholic League's request to light up in honor of Mother Teresa's 100th birthday in 2010. MRC reports: 

The View's associate producer, Marisa Dabney, posted an article on the talk show's website that recounted how "co-hosts Joy Behar and Candace Cameron Bure lit up the Empire State Building in honor of the show's historic Season 20 premiere. The co-hosts pulled the lever to light up the Empire State Building in the show's colors blue, teal and orange." The producer included a video of a "behind the scenes look at the ceremony," and disclosed that Wednesday's episode of The View would have footage of the lighting ceremony 

CNSNews's Pete Winn reported in a June 2010 item that "the Catholic League had requested the tribute in February. It was originally denied on May 5, and the League mounted a petition drive to request special blue and white lights. The drive garnered 40,000 signatures--30,000 online and 10,000 sent by mail." Winn also pointed out that the Empire State Building's owners "honored Communist China for the 60 anniversary of their revolution" in 2009, as well as jam band The Grateful Dead.

As its excuse, the building cited a policy against lighting up for religious figures, yet as Catholic League president Bill Donahue noted back in 2010, the skyscraper lit up in honor of John Cardinal O'Connor in 2000, Pope John Paul II and Rev. Martin Luther King -- who, despite being known for his Civil Rights work, was in fact a Christian minister. 

Mother Teresa was canonized on September 4, 2016 -- another milestone that could have been celebrated, but you know, the owners of the Empire State Building have their priorities.