If producers of The View weren’t saying “whoopee!” when Whoopi Goldberg joined the show in 2007, they certainly should be by now. The EGOT winner doesn’t just moderate discussions on the ABC talk show — she also adds her own passionate commentary. And sometimes, as she herself has admitted, she gets it wrong.
Here are more than a dozen headline-making moments from her run on The View so far, including both highlights and lowlights.
2009: Whoopi makes controversial Roman Polanski comments
Goldberg had tongues wagging in 2009 with what she said on The View about director Roman Polanski, who in 1977 pleaded guilty to having unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor, according to CNN. On the show, Goldberg said she didn’t believe the original charges against Polanski were for “rape-rape.” She later clarified her statement, saying she was talking only about the legal charge, according to MSNBC.
2010: Whoopi says Mel Gibson isn’t racist
After Mel Gibson faced new accusations of racism when an alleged recording of him surfaced in 2010, Goldberg defended the actor. “I don’t like what he did here, but I know Mel, and I know he’s not a racist,” Goldberg said on The View, per CBS News. “He may be a bonehead. I can’t sit and say that he’s a racist, having spent time with him in my house with my kids.”
2012: Whoopi shuts down Ann Coulter’s argument
When conservative commentator Ann Coulter came to The View in 2012 to promote her book Mugged, she claimed that the O.J. Simpson verdict was the best thing that has ever happened to Black Americans. And Goldberg asked her to stop talking. “If you’re going to talk about race, at least know what you’re talking about,” Goldberg said. “Tell me how much you know about being Black.”
2015: Whoopi has change of heart about Bill Cosby
After previously speaking out in support of Bill Cosby amid the sexual assault allegations against him, Goldberg said on The View in 2015 that she was beginning to view him differently. “There is no recourse for these women except what they are doing,” she said, according to Deadline. If this is to be tried in the court of public opinion, I gotta say, all of the information that’s out there kinda points to guilt.”
2015: Whoopi gets 60th-birthday surprise
When Goldberg turned 60 in 2015, a mystery guest came to The View to surprise her. Even after five clues, she couldn’t guess that guest’s identity, but she looked delighted when longtime friend Robert De Niro came out on stage with a big bouquet of flowers.
2016: Whoopi emotionally accepts AIDS advocacy commendations
For Goldberg’s work raising AIDS awareness and battling stigma around the disease in the 1980s and 1990s, the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation awarded her the Elizabeth Taylor Legacy Award in 2016. And Colin Farrell, Lionel Richie, and Elton John all sent video messages that Goldberg watched on The View. “You and I knew Elizabeth very well,” John said in his video, per Variety. “You stood up with Elizabeth and lent your voice to the fight when no one else would.”
2019: Whoopi makes surprise return after near-death experience
Goldberg was absent from The View for a month in early 2019 as she recovered from pneumonia and sepsis, telling viewers in a video message she “came very, very close to leaving the earth.” A week later, she made a surprise comeback to the talk show, bringing her cohosts to tears.
2019: Rosie O’Donnell criticizes Whoopi in tell-all book
In the 2019 tell-all Ladies Who Punch: The Explosive Inside Story of The View, Rosie O’Donnell shared her feelings about Goldberg with author Ramin Setoodeh. “Whoopi Goldberg was as mean as anyone has ever been on television to me, personally — while I was sitting there,” she said, per People. “Worse than Fox News. The worst experience I’ve ever had on live television was interacting with her. … She’s a minority, feminist, smart, funny, groundbreaking legend who is Black in America. I’m never going to not have respect for Whoopi Goldberg. But that was a painful experience, personally and professionally.”
2022: Whoopi gets two-week suspension for Holocaust comments
In a 2022 discussion on The View about a book ban affecting the graphic novel Maus, Goldberg said the Holocaust was not about race but “about man’s inhumanity to man.” She later apologized and said she should have said the Holocaust was about both. Even so, ABC News doled Goldberg a two-week suspension from The View.
2024: Whoopi marks Donald Trump’s felony conviction
After Donald Trump was convicted of 34 felony counts in 2024, Goldberg made a surprise appearance on a Friday episode of The View and actually said Trump’s name instead of saying “You Know Who,” per Entertainment Weekly. She ended the episode by saying “guilty” 33 times.
2024: Whoopi gets Back in the Habit
A week after that, Goldberg had a divine (and tearful) reunion with her costars from Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit, including Kathy Najimy, Wendy Makkena, and Sheryl Lee Ralph. And Goldberg got back in the habit again during the celebration of that 1993 film, which also included performances by Tanya Trotter and Ryan Toby, who played students in the film.
‘OH HAPPY DAY’: Whoopi Goldberg reunites members of the ‘Sister Act 2’ cast to perform ‘Oh Happy Day’ from the 1993 hit movie to kick off our 30th anniversary reunion special! https://t.co/cVclFZQmjA pic.twitter.com/d5SFWpKTxP
— The View (@TheView) June 5, 2024
2024: Whoopi breaks record on The View
And later that year, Goldberg returned for The View’s 28th season and her own 18th, breaking Barbara Walters’ record for most consecutive seasons of the ABC talk show.
2025: Whoopi sends damning message about Trump’s Rob Reiner comments
Following Rob Reiner’s murder in 2025, Trump called the director and actor a “deranged” person, which stoked Goldberg’s ire, as did certain Republicans’ refusal to condemn Trump’s statement. “There is no justification for him to have written what he wrote,” Goldberg said on The View. “There’s no way to justify it. And all of those Republicans who are quiet, damn you all. Damn you all.”
2026: Whoopi reacts to killing of ICE protester
Goldberg had strong words in 2026 following the killing of ICE protester Alex Pretti by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents. To Republicans, she said, “I don’t know what you’re investigating if you’re not investigating the straight-up murder, the straight-up murder … of an American citizen.” And to then-Border Patrol commander-at-large Greg Bovino and then-Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, she said, “You can’t justify this… We all see it, and we see you for who you are. You all have blood on your hands.”
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