Whoopi Goldberg Blasts Her Own Network's Show: It Started the 'Downfall of Society'
Whoopi Goldberg trashed “American Idol,” which runs on her own network, and blamed it for the “downfall of society” on Wednesday’s “The View.”
Her comments about the singing competition resulted in an awkward back-and-forth between her and a network producer, who informed Goldberg the show now runs on Disney-owned ABC — which employs her.
The host started off when she said a documentary on the life of Anna Nicole Smith made her think about how people view one another, which she concluded is “judgy.”
Goldberg then said that modern reality TV shows have made people more judgmental than they used to be.
“You have ‘Basketball Wives,’ you have the ‘Housewives’ of whatever, all the Bravo shows, they give you the impression that you’re doing something wrong because you’re living your life,” she said.
“People watch these shows because they make them feel better,” she continued. “I think that we, as a society, love to watch stuff to judge folks.”
Goldberg then targeted “American Idol.”
“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?” Goldberg said as she turned to a producer Page Six identified as Brian Teta.
Teta asked her, “ABC’s ‘American Idol?’”
As the live studio crowd laughed at Goldberg, she defensively said, “Well, it wasn’t always on ABC.”
Goldberg then decided to double down on her criticism of “Idol.”
“Once we gave people the ability to judge other people, I think we ran amok with it,” she said. “And it’s gone out of control.”
“The View” itself has been described as a forum that offers its hosts a platform to criticize and judge people with whom they disagree.
For decades, the show has been judgmental and openly hostile toward conservatives — a fact that appeared lost on Goldberg.
“American Idol” premiered on Fox in 2002 and ran on the network until 2016.
After a two-year hiatus, the show joined ABC’s lineup.
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