Whoopi Goldberg has issued an apology for unknowingly using an offensive word during a recent conversation on The View. In an episode of the show, the 67-year-old while talking about former President Donald Trump, said that some of his supporters think that “he got ‘gy—-d’ somehow in the election.” The word “gypped” is considered offensive to people of Romani heritage and culture.
After pushback from viewers, the host took to the show’s Twitter account to share a video tendering her apologies. “You know, when you’re a certain age, you use words that are from, you know, when you’re a kid or you remember saying,” Goldberg pleaded. “And that’s what I did today, and I shouldn’t have.”
Fans react to Whoopi Goldberg’s apology video
A message from Whoopi Goldberg regarding today’s episode of #TheView. pic.twitter.com/PIvwYRWMsy
— The View (@TheView) March 15, 2023
Goldberg’s recent apology was met with a variety of responses from fans who took to the show’s social media account to comment. “Well, I learned something today! Thanks for this teaching moment. I won’t say this in the future!” a social media user commented. Another fan couldn’t hide their confusion on the subject matter, “[People] use that word all the time. How is that offensive?”
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Also, some other fans explained that they should cut the host some slack even though the word itself is discriminatory, but there is no general knowledge about that, “She’s said lots of horrible things, but I have to defend her here. Most people don’t know the etymology of the word …”
The host had earlier suffered backlash for her offensive statements
However, this is not the first time Goldberg has come under fire for making controversial statements or using outdated and offensive language on air. She was heavily criticized last year for her remarks on the Holocaust.
On a February episode of The View, Goldberg made a contentious statement that “The Holocaust isn’t about race. It’s about man’s inhumanity to man. These are two white groups of people.” This sparked wild reactions from viewers and to douse the tension, Goldberg tendered an apology.
“Yesterday on our show, I misspoke, [The Holocaust] is indeed about race, because Hitler and the Nazis considered the Jews to be an inferior race. Now, words matter, and mine are no exception,” Goldberg said. “I regret my comments and I stand corrected. I also stand with the Jewish people, as they know and y’all know, because I’ve always done that.” However, she faced disciplinary action and was thus suspended for two weeks.