‘The View’: Whoopi Goldberg Addresses Heckler Who Called Her ‘Old Broad’ on Live TV

An audience member on The View was confronted by longtime moderator Whoopi Goldberg after heckling her from the front row. As the co-hosts took their seats at the roundtable at the beginning of the episode, the woman was eager to get Goldberg’s attention. “We’re happy to see y’all. Cool, well, go on and have a seat,” Goldberg said, noting the crowd was a “very happy” one before addressing an audience member directly. “Did you just call me an old broad? Yeah?” the EGOT winner asked. The camera then cut to a woman wearing a large fur hat in the front row. “She said, ‘You old broad,’ and I was like, hey, it’s Wednesday, and I am an old broad, and happy about it,” Goldberg said. 

Cohost Sunny Hostin told Goldberg that being an “old broad” is better than “the alternative,” with Goldberg responding, “The alternative is not attractive to any of us. We all want to be old broads and old dudes, you know?” Throughout the rest of the episode, cameras continued to cut to a shot of the women in the front.

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Goldberg joined the daytime talk show in 2007. She’s beloved for her liberal views and her typically cool demeanor. But she’s had some moments of controversy. Initially, she supported disgraced comedian Bill Cosby when he was accused by dozens of women of sexual assault. She later changed her stance. 

Last year, she made a slur about the Holocaust that got her suspended from the show. “It was never my intention to appear as if I was doubling down on hurtful comments, especially after talking with and hearing people like rabbis and old and new friends weighing in,” she said recently, per The New York Post. She continued: “I’m still learning a lot, and believe me, I heard everything everyone said to me. I believe that the Holocaust was about race, and I am still as sorry now as I was then that I upset, hurt and angered people. My sincere apologies again, especially to everyone who thought this was a fresh rehash of the subject. I promise it was not.”