'The View': Whoopi Goldberg Calls 'American Idol' the 'Beginning of the Downfall of Society'

The View co-host Whoopi Goldberg sparked some controversy this week, after calling American Idol the "beginning of the downfall of society." It all started during a panel discussion on Netflix's new Anna Nicole Smith documentary, You Don't Know Me, which is now streaming. Goldberg spoke up — Us Weekly reports — calling out programming that she feels encourages the passing of judgment on others.

"You have Basketball Wives, you have the Housewives of whatever, all the Bravo shows, giving you the impression that you're doing something wrong because you're living your life," the comedian said. "People watch these shows because they make them feel better. ... I think that we, as a society, love to watch stuff to judge folks." Goldberg then turned toward the audience, where the show's executive producer, Brian Teta, was sitting. "You know, I've always thought that the beginning of the downfall of society was with," she said to The View EP, "what's the name of that show? I always tell you that."

Teta replied, "ABC's American Idol?" This sparked laughter from the surrounding crowd — since the two shows are both on the same network — and prompted Goldberg to respond, "Well, it wasn't always on ABC." Notably, the singing competition series aired on Fox from 2002 to 2016. It returned two years later, debuting with new judges on ABC in 2018. "Once we gave people the ability to judge other people, I think we ran amok with it," Goldberg explained. "And it's gone out of control."

While Goldberg may not be a fan, American Idol fans flocked to the show's recent finale, wherein a new winner was crowned. On Sunday night, during the live finale, Iam Tongi from Kahuku, Hawaii was revealed as the season champion. Megan Danielle was the runner-up, and Colin Stough finished in third place.

Tongi had been a fan favorite from his first audition, where he played guitar and sang "Monsters" by James Blunt. The audition was a widely talked-about moment, as the song is from a son's point of view as he sings to his dying father. At the time, Tongi revealed that his own father, Rodney, had recently passed away. During the finale, the tears began flowing again when Tongi took the stage to perform the song with Blunt. Eventually, it came time to announce a winner, and Tongi emerged victorious, which has sparked a lot of celebration.