It isn’t often that Whoopi Goldberg is left speechless on her ABC talk show The View. That’s why it came as a welcome surprise when Goldberg was seemingly too stunned to speak after one of her co-hosts made a joke on Monday morning.
During Monday’s episode of The View, Goldberg and her co-hosts discussed a report alleging that Ghislaine Maxwell, the alleged former madam of the late billionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, has been granted a service dog in prison. This claim was made by Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), who is alleging that he was told this by a prison whistleblower.
According to Raskin, Maxwell is being given special treatment behind bars. She allegedly has meals that are both customized and delivered. Maxwell reportedly has guests that are being permitted to visit her with computers. It’s even been alleged that the prison warden is sending documents and emails on Maxwell’s behalf.
Goldberg Rendered Speechless
On top of all of that, Maxwell has reportedly been given a service-dog-in-training to play with. This last claim particularly enraged Goldberg and her co-hosts. Alyssa Farah Griffin, the token conservative on the panel, quipped that she hopes that the dog bites Maxwell. Both Goldberg and her co-host Sara Haines, however, were quick to disagree with this.
“No, because you know who will get blamed? They’ll blame the dog and then take the dog down,” Goldberg pointed out.
“The dog will go the way of Cricket,” Haines joked in response.
Goldberg initially began to laugh before she realized what exactly Haines had just said. She then bowed her head in silence as she was rendered momentarily speechless by the joke.
“Too soon!” Goldberg finally exclaimed.
This joke was clearly a reference to the puppy Cricket that was owned by South Dakota’s Republican Governor Kristi Noem. Last year, Noem admitted in her book that she killed Cricket because she couldn’t train her. Many took issue with this, and liberals like Haines have since taken to using Cricket as a punchline to bash Noem.
Check out this full segment on The View in the video below. The relevant portion occurs in the last 20 seconds of the clip.
Goldberg In Hot Water At ABC
This comes at a tense time for Goldberg on The View. Indeed, she just learned her fate after angering ABC executives by ripping up a legal correction on live television.
Last week, Goldberg was furious when her co-host Sunny Hostin handed her a note correcting a jab she’d made at President Donald Trump.
“What the hell? What?” Goldberg said as she looked at the note. “We don’t know if Trump used an autopen to pardon, it was a joke!”
Goldberg proceeded to rip up the note, which clearly came from her own producers. This prompted many to think that ABC might finally fire Goldberg.
“About time they started calling this hack out. Do better – FIRE THEM ALL,” one social media user commented. Another added, “Why are they still spewing lies, hate and misinformation. Get rid of these dinosaurs.”
Check out the uncomfortable moment for yourself in the video below.
Goldberg Learns Her Fate
Though ABC higher-ups were livid about what Goldberg did, they decided days later to keep her on The View.
“Whoopi will stay on the show for as long as they will have her,” the insider told Daily Mail. “She’s not as controversial as the other hosts and certainly isn’t even considered to be on the chopping block.”
“She gets paid very well, and typically always follows orders from producers,” the source continued. According to this insider, The View has become “part of Whoopi’s life.” That’s why she won’t be leaving unless she either gets a “bigger offer” somewhere else or her “health deteriorates.”
“She also loves having the flexibility where she’s off every Friday, so she uses that time to travel or work on other projects,” the source concluded.
Goldberg may have dodged this bullet and lived to fight on The View another day. However, she’s also likely aware that she’s still on thin ice with producers. That may be why Goldberg was rendered speechless by the joke Haines made, as it could be seen as inappropriate to some.
In the end, Goldberg appears to be trying to be on her best behavior on The View these days. Here’s hoping that she’s rendered speechless in many episodes to come, as we’d love it if Goldberg kept her mouth shut more moving forward.
Good riddance, Whoopi Goldberg!