Who doesn't love Oprah Winfrey? Well, rumor has it that the ladies of The View—comprised of Joy Behar, Sunny Hostin, Sara Haines, Alyssa Fara Griffin, Ana Navarro and Winfrey's The Color Purple co-star Whoopi Goldberg—currently aren't the biggest fans of the media mogul.
The alleged bad blood actually revolves around the latest critically acclaimed film adaptation of The Color Purple, this one a remake of the titular stage musical rather than the 1985 Steven Spielberg-directed film that featured one of Whoopi Goldberg’s best performances as Celie and Oprah Winfrey in a career-defining role as Sofia. The latter actress serves as an executive producer on the new film.
However, given the history between Oprah and Whoopi, many The View fans thought that they'd be able to witness a long-awaited reunion between the two icons when the rest of the 2023 The Color Purple cast showed up at the daytime talk show to promote the film. But Winfrey notably didn't join actors Fantasia Barrino, Taraji P. Henson and Danielle Brooks, and director Blitz Bazawule during the roundtable discussion with The View hosts. And now, as one source told Page Six:
The View is pissed that Oprah avoided The View.
The supposed slight comes after Winfrey appeared on several other New York City stops during The Color Purple promo tour, including Gayle King‘s CBS Mornings, Drew Barrymore's The Drew Barrymore Show and Sherri Shepherd‘s Sherri.
However, per another insider, the reasonings for Oprah's absence during The View appearance was far less passive-aggressive and simply a scheduling issue. The source told the outlet that, though The View usually airs live, the December 13 episode on which The Color Purple cast appeared as "taped on Nov. 27 when [Oprah] wasn't available."
A spokesperson for Winfrey’s Harpo production company also told Page Six:
As one of the producers, there have been appearances Ms. Winfrey did not participate in with the cast, and was unable to be in New York when this segment was filmed right after Thanksgiving. She is overjoyed to see the cast have their moment.
Despite Winfrey's absence, the coming together of Goldberg and the new cast members was a moving one, with Blitz Bazawule praising the performer and leading his actors in a round of applause to Whoopi:
We owe you, Whoopi.
Insiders highlighted Goldberg's "incredible moment with the cast," telling Page Six:
Everyone was thrilled with what aired… It was a very emotional day for Whoopi. It was a wonderful moment.
However, fans weren't feeling the "nasty energy" that has surrounded The Color Purple's promo tour, which has also included another rumored feud between Winfrey and star Taraji P. Henson, after the latter publicly called out her salary for the musical film.
One X user took to the platform to call out the rumored behind-the-scenes drama:
It’s a real nasty energy around the Color Purple press run. First Whoopi calling out Oprah’s snub from back in the day, now Taraji’s disassociation due to her angst w/ industry snubs. And although her styling has been amazing, Fantasia does not look happy in her press photos.
Another added their two cents about the Whoopi versus Oprah beef:
I mean Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah beefing over the movie too because Oprah told Fantasia, Whoopi wouldnt be interested to mentor Fannie and Whoopi felt blindsided. Truth is Oprah didnt want to share the success with the original star of The Color Purple.
Whether the Winfrey-Goldberg drama is the real deal or simply manufactured for clicks, the new The Color Purple has been a success so far on the 2023 movie schedule, becoming the biggest Christmas box office opening since 2009, earning $18 million in North America on its first day.
