Whoopi Goldberg has raised eyebrows once again after she blasted one of her co-hosts on The View for calling Hollywood elites a “bunch of hypocrites,” saying the claim was racist.

Hosts of the ABC talk show on Thursday, March 30 were discussing the disgraceful slapping incident between Will Smith and Chris Rock at the Oscars, when co-host Tara Setmayer slammed the audience at the event for giving Smith a standing ovation for his Best Actor win following the assault.  Rock was on stage at the 94th Academy Awards held at Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on Sunday, March 27, to present the award for Best Documentary Film when he joked about Jada Pinkett Smith’s shaved head. When Rock said she could star in “G.I. Jane 2”, Smith walked onto the stage, slapped Rock in the face, and walked back to his seat. “Keep my wife’s name out of your f**king mouth,” he yelled at Rock after taking his seat. Smith later apologized for his actions. 

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“They gave him a standing ovation,” Setmayer said. “Which I think, again, goes back to why some people feel like Hollywood elites are a bunch of hypocrites. They go out there and they give these statements of moral superiority about things, and political statements, and then they’re standing there giving a standing ovation after [Smith] just assaulted Chris Rock.”

Goldberg appeared rather enraged by Setmayer’s take and interjected to tell her not to make generalizations. “It really pisses me off when people start to talk about people who work in Hollywood, not just actors, but all the other folks,” she said. “So, please, when you’re talking about actors, be specific. If you’re pissed off about somebody or how they act, don’t put it on all of us because that’s like saying all black people like chicken,” she added. It’s worth noting that Goldberg is a Hollywood elite herself, serving as the Academy Governor.

Goldberg went on to defend Tinseltown, suggesting there was no such thing as the ‘Hollywood elite’ and that those working in the film industry were just like everyone else. “I just want to stop with this ‘elite’ stuff because, you know, a lot of us work for a living,” she said. “We work. We collect a check. We got families. We try to do the same thing, the good stuff that everybody else tries to do.”

The contentious exchange came more than a month after Goldberg returned to the show following a two-week unpaid suspension for claiming on a January 31 episode that the “Holocaust wasn’t racist.” The actor and comedian reportedly faced quite the backlash from staffers who said she had crossed the line with her tone-deaf apology over her Holocaust comments.

During Thursday’s argument, co-host Joy Behar took Goldberg’s side, telling Setmayer, “You know what, Tara? You can’t paint all Hollywood people with one brush.” Nonetheless, Setmayer did not budge and claimed the latest Oscar debacle was “very telling” about Hollywood to the average joe. “I think there’s an argument to be made about the industry,” she said.   

Smith’s assault on Rock at the Oscars has been repeatedly criticized by The View hosts, including Sunny Hostin and Ana Navarro who called his actions “immature and childish.” However, Goldberg has offered a rather different take. “I think he overreacted…I think he had one of those moments where it was like G.D. it, just stop,” Goldberg said following the incident. “I get it, not everybody acts the way we would like them to act under pressure. And he snapped.”

Goldberg noted that while Smith will be able to keep his Oscar, he will face “big consequences because nobody is OK with what happened.” The controversial TV host wasn’t there at the Oscars and insisted she wasn’t speaking on behalf of the Academy’s board of directors. On Thursday, she said Smith was asked to leave the event following the slap, but he refused to do so, and the Academy may not have taken further action fearing the actor would make a bigger scene. “I think that he was asked to leave,” Goldberg said. “Picture – they come back from break, now if [Smith] is in some sort of state and he’s struggling and you’re trying to get him out the door and it’s still on camera.”

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