Whoopi Goldberg Debuts New Look on 'The View'

Whoopi Goldberg is sporting a whole different look on The View. The moderator of the long-running daytime show told viewers on Monday's episode that she underwent surgery so that she no longer has to wear glasses. It's a big change for the host, as she noted that she's worn glasses for almost 30 years. 

Goldberg won't be sporting glasses on the talk show anymore, as she told her co-hosts, "I had an operation and they replaced the lens [in my eye]. The lens they replaced it with is kind of like my eyeglass lens." She further opened up about the surgery, saying, "They can remove the lens when you have teeny tiny cataracts and replace them." Goldberg said that this isn't a new kind of surgery and that it could possibly be partially covered by insurance.

"This is something they've been doing for a while and people don't know about it," she said. "Your insurance will cover it, though you have to pay for the lens itself." After getting the procedure done, she noted that she is now "sitting here able to read... and see." The Oscar winner then joked to viewers, "The bionic times have arrived." Clearly, Goldberg is happy with the results of her eye surgery, as she said, "I've been wearing glasses now for almost 28 years... Now this is what I look like and it's not so bad."

Goldberg's surgery reveal comes on the heels of her latest controversy. On a recent episode of the show, Goldberg and her co-hosts were discussing former President Donald Trump's legal battles. When talking about Trump's base, she used a slur associated with the Romani people. She said that the former president's base includes "people who still believe that he got (expletive) somehow in the election." The expletive in question signifies someone who has been "cheated in some way" and ties back to the derogatory Romani term, "gypsy," according to Mary-Frances Winters of The Inclusion Solution. The same day that she used the slur, she issued an apology via The View's Twitter account. 

"When you're a certain age, you use words that you know from when you were a kid or you remember saying, and that's what I did today," Goldberg said in a video message. "And I shouldn't have." She continued, "I should have thought about it a little longer before I said it, but I didn't. I should have said 'cheated,' and I used another word and I'm really, really sorry."