whoopi goldberg
Whoopi Goldberg weighed in on the conversation surrounding Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter album and its lack of nominations at the 2024 CMA Awards, offering a pragmatic take.
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While many have expressed disappointment over the “snub”, Goldberg believes it wasn’t a case of being overlooked. “A lot of people are surprised — I don’t know why — that it didn’t receive a single CMA Award nomination,” Goldberg stated on The View.
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“I don’t think she was snubbed, I think they just didn’t… it wasn’t for them.”
Goldberg’s perspective comes as part of a larger conversation sparked by the Cowboy Carter album, which marks Beyoncé’s foray into country music. Released in March, the album has performed remarkably well, peaking at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 – her eighth record to do so – and staying on the Top Country Albums chart for an entire month.
Despite the album’s commercial success, the country music industry has been slow to embrace it fully, a sentiment echoed by some of Goldberg’s cohosts.
Sunny Hostin expressed her surprise at the lack of recognition for two tracks in particular: Beyoncé’s reimagining of Dolly Parton’s classic “Jolene” and the original song “Texas Hold ‘Em.”
“I thought she would at least get nominated for those two,” Hostin said, referencing how even Parton herself had given Beyoncé her blessing to cover “Jolene,” even appearing on the track to introduce it.
“But, my mother always told me, ‘Find the audience that’s looking for you.’ This audience isn’t looking for her,” Hostin concluded.
Alyssa Farah Griffin chimed in, pointing out that while industry insiders might not have been supportive, fans certainly were. “The Country Billboard charts do not lie,” she added. However, Goldberg reminded her that fans and voters don’t always see eye to eye.
Sara Haines rounded out the discussion by pointing out that awards aren’t necessarily the ultimate validation, remarking, “The best revenge is success.”
The conversation on The View follows comments made by Beyoncé’s father, Mathew Knowles, who has been vocal about his disappointment with the CMA Awards.
In an interview with TMZ, Knowles said, “There’s more white people in America and unfortunately they don’t vote based on ability and achievements. It’s still sometimes a white and Black thing.”
Knowles also referenced Beyoncé’s controversial performance with the Dixie Chicks at the 2016 CMAs, noting that the show never properly acknowledged her contribution.
Though the Cowboy Carter snub left many puzzled, the album’s chart performance speaks volumes. It dominated the Billboard 200 for two weeks and made Beyoncé the first Black woman to top the Hot Country Songs chart with “Texas Hold ‘Em.”
The album boasts a diverse lineup of billed guest artists, including Tanner Adell, Beyoncé’s daughter Rumi Carter, Miley Cyrus, Willie Jones, Tiera Kennedy, Linda Martell, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, Post Malone, Reyna Roberts, Shaboozey and Brittney Spencer.
Among the many additional players on the album: 070 Shake, Jon Batiste, Ryan Beatty, Gary Clark Jr., The-Dream, Rhiannon Giddens, Paul McCartney, Pharrell, Robert Randolph, Nile Rodgers, Raphael Saadiq, Sara Watkins and Stevie Wonder.
During Whoopi Goldberg‘s recent appearance on Kelly Clarkson‘s talk show, the two women shared a bonding moment when they discovered that they had both used prescription medications for weight loss. Their comments, however, garnered backlash from viewers who are either opposed to the practice or feel entitled to more transparency on the three-time Grammy winner’s part — and Goldberg is having none of it.
In a clip from the latest episode of The View posted Wednesday (May 15), the actress came to Clarkson’s defense while revisiting the topic of health with her co-hosts Sara Haines, Joy Behar, Sunny Hostin and Alyssa Farah Griffin. “Apparently our conversation about weight has a lot of people talking,” she began before showing a snippet of Monday’s (May 13) Kelly Clarkson Show episode.
In the snippet, Goldberg revealed that she’s been losing weight with the help of “the wonderful shot that works for folks who need some help.” Clarkson responded that she had also been prescribed an injectable weight loss remedy to help with her weight retention and thyroid issues. In February, the “Stronger” singer revealed that she’d been diagnosed pre-diabetic.
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“Everybody thinks it’s Ozempic,” Clarkson told Goldberg. “It’s not, it’s something else.”
On The View, the Sister Act alum reminded viewers that “a lot of people are taking the shot because they need it,” before admonishing people for criticizing Clarkson’s use of a weight loss prescription. “They kick her behind when she’s bigger, they kick her behind when she’s lost the weight, and now they’re kicking her behind because she said it out loud,” she said.
“It seems like this generation shares everything,” Goldberg continued. “What they ate for dinner, who they ate for dinner, all kinds of stuff. You have people like myself who, it’s like, ‘When I’m ready to tell you, I’ll tell you. When I’m comfortable, I’ll let you know.’”
“We have to let people do what they need to do to get where they need to get to,” she added. “Stop being mad that they’re not doing it your way. It’s not like we really know what you’re doing.” She then joined Griffin in cheering, “Leave Kelly Clarkson alone!”
The topic of Ozempic and similar drugs has been a sensitive one in recent months, with the medication’s proven weight-loss properties causing a new surge in off-label prescribing. Ozempic itself is an FDA-approved injectable originally formulated to help adults with type 2 diabetes manage their blood sugar.
Clarkson previously discussed her weight loss in a conversation with Kevin James on her show, which is also when she revealed that her doctors had told her she was pre-diabetic. Around the same time, she said that moving to New York with her two young children — whom she shares with ex-husband Brandon Blackstock — had jumpstarted her weight loss by forcing her to walk around the city constantly.
Watch Goldberg defend Clarkson on The View below.
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Source: Penske Media / Getty / Whoopi Goldberg
BLKFAM, another streaming service, is entering the chat, and this one is all Black, has a Black owner, strictly for Black folks, and boasts Whoopi Goldberg as an investor.
The movie and television streaming space got a bit more crowded with the launch of BLKFAM, a new free, ad-supported streaming service created by digital marketer Larry Adams.
The View host and legendary comedian/actress is on board as an equity partner in the streamer, boasting that it is “the first and only Black-owned, Black-focused family streaming platform.”
Coming out of the gate, BLKFAM is offering potential customers access to its content library containing 20+ syndicated series, 1,000+ hours of new animation titles, and introducing new animated characters of color plus diverse gender experiences.
For those into music, don’t worry. BLKFAM has got you with hundreds of hours of original music-driven content.
As for the content, Deadline reports ten new original live-action and animated series are currently in development that premiere on the streamer during its first year. There will also be investigative journalism and news shows, fitness and wellness series, reality shows, and a Black History program for customers to enjoy.
Per Deadline:
Black culture and content is so often stereotyped, siloed or written off – so I wanted to create a platform where my kids and I can be entertained without having to face those same daily biases,” said Adams.
Goldberg has signed on as equity partner alongside Tom Leonardis, president of her entertainment venture Whoop, Inc., and will be steering the creative development of various programming exclusive to the platform.
“I am honored to partner with BLKFAM to assist in the creative direction of curated diverse content – for Black culture to be brought to broader audiences,” the EGOT winner said.
Add BLKFAM to the list of entertainment hubs for Black television viewers, including names like BET+, Tubi, ALLBLK, and a particular one that will remain nameless.
Will you be giving BLKFAM a chance? Let us know.
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Whoopi Goldberg criticized GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley on Wednesday over her claim that the United States “has never been a racist country”.
Whoopi Goldberg didn’t mince words on The View on Wednesday (January 17) in blasting Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley over her claim that America has “never been a racist country.” Haley made that statement during an interview with Fox News the evening before. After playing the clip, the co-host began, “I don’t understand why it’s so hard to admit that racism has been and is a part of U.S. history.”
“When you think back, 1849, 1869, they lynched 20, 30 Italians because they were Italian. They lynched Black folks. Black folks didn’t climb up in the trees and lynch themselves,” Goldberg continued. “You know, people were angry and came and burned them out. Emmett Till did not do that to himself, that was done to him ’cause somebody was angry because he overstepped in their mind what he was supposed to do as a Black person.” The EGOT winner concluded her remarks before the rest of the panel joined in: “Yeah, we are trying to get it better, but stop trying to whitewash it because every time they say we’re gonna take away Black history, we’re gonna take away women’s history — what do you think that says?”
The discussion would be picked up again as Vice President Kamala Harris appeared on the show. She began by stating that it is unwise to turn such a topic into a mere soundbite before saying, “There’s no denying that we have, in our history as a nation, racism, and that racism has played a role in the history of our nation. I think we all would agree that while it is part of our past and we see vestiges of it today, we should also be committed collectively to not letting it define the future of our country.”
Haley’s recent claim statement follows a campaign run in Iowa mired by her refusal to acknowledge slavery as the prime cause of the Civil War. The former governor of South Carolina would try to deflect from that backlash, claiming that
she “had Black friends growing up” as a defense. She currently is trailing behind former President Donald Trump as the GOP candidates begin to campaign in New Hampshire.
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Whoopi Goldberg sent a video message to her co-hosts of The View while recovering from COVID-19, knocking down online conspiracies in the process.
On Wednesday (September 6th), Joy Behar opened up the episode by informing the audience as she did the day before that Goldberg was absent due to COVID before playing a video message from the EGOT winner. “In spite of everything you’ve heard,” said a masked-up Goldberg, “I am not at Burning Man, I am not still in Italy, I am not trying to change the outcome of the election, I just have Covid.”
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She commented that she was still testing positive for Covid, so she would not be on the show for the next few days. Goldberg went on to state that she was “thrilled to see the beautiful new desk” which made its debut on Tuesday for the premiere of the daytime talk show’s 27th season. “And I’m thrilled to see all the beautiful women…I can’t wait to get back and hang out.”
It’s the third time that Goldberg has been infected with COVID-19. Behar took time out to address the mounting conspiracy theories peddled by right-wingers, who claim that high-profile announcements of those who had caught Covid were being created to initiate government crackdowns through mandates. The White House previously announced that First Lady Jill Biden tested positive for Covid on Monday (September 5th).
Behar added her two cents about all of the conspiracy theories on air. “People write she got the vaccine so how come she still gets it?” she said. ” “Because she’s not dead! She’s just a little under the weather. If you don’t get [the vaccine] and you get the disease you might die.” Co-host Ana Navarro joined in to say, “Before we had the vaccines, people did die.” Behar then quipped, “This type of irrational talk drives me nuts.”
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Earlier this month, The View host Whoopi Goldberg addressed past comments about race and the Holocaust.
According to Deadline, Whoopi Goldberg made the comments while doing press for the movie Till where she plays the mother of Mamie Till-Mobley.
“My best friend said, ‘Not for nothing is there no box on the census for the Jewish race. So that leads me to believe that we’re probably not a race,’” she said in the interview with the Sunday Times, which was published during Hanukkah.
The comments were a callback to comments the Sister Act actor made at the top of 2022 where she said that “Nazis saw Jews as a race.”
Sheadded, “Yes, but that’s the killer, isn’t it? The oppressor is telling you what you are. Why are you believing them? They’re Nazis. Why believe what they’re saying?”
She continued: “It wasn’t originally [about race]. Remember who they were killing first. They were not killing racial; they were killing physical. They were killing people they considered to be mentally defective. And then they made this decision.”
After continued pushback from the Anti-Defamation League, Goldberg issued a statement on the subject saying, “Recently while doing press in London, I was asked about my comments from earlier this year. I tried to convey to the reporter what I had said and why, and attempted to recount that time. It was never my intention to appear as if I was doubling down on hurtful comments, especially after talking with and hearing people like rabbis and old and new friends weighing in.”
She added, “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.”
Goldberg concluded, “My sincere apologies again, especially to everyone who thought this was a fresh rehash of the subject. I promise it was not. In this time of rising antisemitism, I want to be very clear when I say that I always stood with the Jewish people and always will. My support for them has not wavered and never will.”
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