Whoopi Goldberg may be finding herself in more hot water on “The View”.
“The Color Purple” actress, 67, received backlash for branding “American Idol” as “the downfall of society” before retracting her statement amid a tense exchange with a “View” producer.
Goldberg and panel discussed the new Netflix documentary about Anna Nicole Smith, “You Don’t Know Me”, which analyzes the inner workings of the Playboy model’s life. Goldberg concluded that “people like to be judgey.”
“You have ‘Basketball Wives,’ you have the ‘Housewives’ of whatever, all the Bravo shows, giving you the impression that you’re doing something wrong because you’re living your life,” she further asserted.
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The TV personality stated that “people watch these shows to feel better about themselves.”
“I think that we, as a society, love to watch stuff to judge folks.”
The Oscar nominee then pinpointed to an exact show that she believes catapulted the rise in judgemental viewership.
She turned to executive producer Brian Teta, asking: “You know, I’ve always thought that the beginning of the downfall of society was with, um, what’s the name of that show I always tell you that?” The producer responded: “ABC’s ‘American Idol’?”
Much to the studio audience’s laughter, the producer swiftly reminded the “Sister Act” star that both “The View” and “American Idol” air on the Disney-owned ABC, which pays her salary.
“Well, it wasn’t always on ABC,” Goldberg shot back, trying to soften the blow. “American Idol” was originally a Fox series from 2002 to 2016.
She then doubled down, stating, “once we gave people the ability to judge other people, I think we ran amok with it.”
The tense moment didn’t end there, though, with Teta asking Goldberg off-camera, “Did you really just say that?”
“We have it now, and it’s a different show. … ABC knows I feel like this, I’ve told them. It has nothing to do with them; it’s to do with the show,” finished the outspoken panellist.
Season 21 of “American Idol” wrapped up on May 21 with the crowning of winner Iam Tongi.
