Whoopi Goldberg has built a reputation for unashamedly sharing her opinion on the air, even if it’s a controversial one, but many think she might’ve taken things too far recently.
During an episode of The View from earlier this week, the talk show co-host began sharing her thoughts during a heated discussion on the Tesla founder, Elon Musk. As she spoke about the entrepreneur’s hot take on a film, she labeled him as someone who approved of the infamous apartheid system in South Africa, which is where he’s from. Before the episode concluded, she offered an apology later on, but it was too late, as what she first said was already causing a lot of buzz. Read more about what she had to say and why she apologized below.
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Whoopi Goldberg Says Elon Musk 'Was Okay With Apartheid' During A Conversation On 'The View'
The Sister Act actress is one of the most notorious women to ever co-host the popular daytime television series, The View. Throughout her time on it, she's become more and more outspoken about her opinions on topics they discuss, either directly debating guest stars or saying things indirectly about other celebrities or politicians.
This week, Whoopi and the rest of the View ladies were talking about famous director Christopher Nolan's upcoming film adaptation of The Odyssey, and how there were some more conservative social media users who were against some of the actors rumored to be cast in it. She then brought up how on X, Elon Musk, who now owns the social media platform, posted that he was publicly against the idea of Lupita Nyong'o, an Oscar award-winning actress, playing the role of Helen of Troy. He responded to an offensive post stating that the director only cast her because he "wants awards."
"Okay, so you remember I said, 'Just sit tight for this last one,' sit even tighter for this," Whoopi told The View audience, as reported by Radar. "Elon Musk, you know, the man from South Africa who was okay with apartheid, is still railing against Lupita Nyong'o playing the fabled, most beautiful woman in the world, Helen of Troy."
Whoopi Takes Back Her Comments & Apologizes
After the 70-year-old show host made her big statement about the billionaire supporting apartheid, it didn't take long for her to start backtracking during the same episode. Apartheid was a notoriously heinous period for people in South Africa, where Elon is from and lived until he was 18 years old.
It was a system that enforced institutionalized racial segregation from the late 1940s to the early 1990s. It took away the rights of those who weren't white, categorizing them and subjecting them to poverty, poor living conditions, and more. The Tesla founder has not spoken publicly about supporting the time period, and emigrated to Canada in 1989 before he could enter the military draft, which would've made him enforce the rules of apartheid.
Though he's been accused of being racist and making extremely controversial statements, it didn't take long for Whoopi to realize she might have gone too far with her accusation on the show. She's had issues with her words on the show, once getting suspended from being on it for two weeks due to something she said about racism and the Holocaust. She ended up taking back her words about Elon after playing a clip of media personalities reacting to the Nolan film casting rumors.
"Let me just say this first because I know [it] will have upset people," she began. "I don't know that he was an apartheid apologist. I don't know anything about him, except that I'm not a fan, so I take it back."
Though Joy Behar reminded the comedian that Elon did live in South Africa during that time period, she stood by her apology, adding, "I'm not saying he was there. I don't know that he was there. I wasn't there. I don't know if he was there. So I'm saying, 'Okay.'"
