Whoopi Goldberg Begrudgingly Walks Back Lindsey Graham Gay Joke on ‘The View’: “I Should Probably Never Do This Show Again” – Decider
Whoopi Goldberg is following in the off-color footsteps of her View co-host, Joy Behar, and cracking a cringey gay joke on live TV. During a conversation about gay marriage and states’ rights on today’s episode, Goldberg implied Sen. Lindsey Graham is gay, then hinted that a producer forced her to address the bit in the next segment. Messy!
It all went down as The View welcomed back White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, who called out republicans for threatening to take away abortion and marriage rights.
“Senator Graham had said, maybe about a month ago, early August, that he believes when it comes to marriage, when it comes to abortion, it’s for states to decide. So, Senator Graham, what changed?” Jean-Pierre asked.
Goldberg quipped, “Well, maybe he’s getting married,” much to the delight of the audience, who whooped and cheered at her joke.
She added, “Do it quick, ’cause I know people are fooling around with our marriage rights, whoever, wherever you stand.”
After saying goodbye to Jean-Pierre and sending the show to a commercial break, Goldberg kicked off the next segment with a clarification about her joke.
“Before I do this introduction, I need to make clear that I was doing what I do as a comic, sometimes I make jokes and it was a joke. Nothing more than that. I just got a whole conversation about people misunderstanding the joke,” she said with a puzzled look on her face. “I mean, okay!”
“I should probably never do this show again,” she added, “if this is what it’s coming to!”
Switching to a more serious tone, Goldberg added, “No, it was a joke, guys.” She seemingly stopped short of apologizing, though, telling the audience, “I’m—” before cutting herself off and ending the message with a casual, “You know.”
Her little bit follows Behar’s own blunder on The View, when she cracked a joke last year about Carl Nassib making history as the first NFL player to come out as gay while actively playing in the league. After joking about “penetration in the End Zone,” Behar brushed off her “inappropriate joke,” telling viewers, “Make believe I never said it.”
The View airs weekdays at 11/10c on ABC