UPDATE with VIDEO.
Whoopi Goldberg quickly issued an apology after using an ethnic slur during The View’s episode on March 15. The panel of women was talking about the 2020 presidential election, and the moderator used an ethnic slur that is used against Romani people. After the episode aired, the actress quickly took to Twitter to issue an apology, and explain why what she said was wrong.
In the episode, they were talking about Donald Trump and the 2020 election, Goldberg made a comment about people still believing he got cheated during the election, but rather than saying cheated she used a slur, which is muted out of the episode on Hulu. She then apologized for her use of the word, and it was posted on The View’s Twitter account not long after the show aired. Goldberg said:
You know, when you’re a certain age you use words that you know from when you’re a kid or you remember saying and that’s what I did today, and I shouldn’t have. I should have thought about it a little longer before I said it, but I didn’t. And I should have said cheated, and I used another word, and I’m really, really sorry.
A message from Whoopi Goldberg regarding today's episode of #TheView. pic.twitter.com/PIvwYRWMsyMarch 15, 2023
This is not the first time Goldberg has apologized for saying something she shouldn’t have on The View. In January 2022 she made a controversial comment about the Holocaust and anti-Semitic behavior not always equating to racism. She quickly apologized in this instance as well, telling Stephen Colbert that she was wrong and that she was “sorry for the hurt I have caused.” She was suspended for two weeks from the ABC talk show following her comments, and then almost a year later the conversation surrounding what she said started up again.
Goldberg released a statement clarifying what she meant to say at the time, and what she has learned since then in December 2022. Part of the statement read:
I'm still learning a lot and believe me, I heard everything everyone said to me. I believe that the Holocaust was about race, and I am still as sorry now as I was then that I upset, hurt and angered people.
Similar to how she handled her comments about the Holocaust and race, she acknowledged that using the derogatory term during the March 15 broadcast was wrong, and that she should not have done it.
Whoopi Goldberg has never been afraid to share her candid and fairly unfiltered thoughts on The View. She’s gotten real about not liking her place at the show’s table, defended Mel Brooks’ Blazing Saddles in regard to how it handles racism, and got real about representation in fantasy shows like Rings of Power, and these are just a few examples from the last year. The moderator/actor is not afraid to speak her mind, and there have been instances where she said something she shouldn't have, and had to issue an apology while making it clear she had learned from her mistakes.
The View airs on ABC every weekday on the 2023 TV schedule.
