Whoopi Goldberg Defends News Anchor Who Was Benched After Quoting Snoop Dogg on Air

Whoopi Goldberg and Charlamagne tha God came to the defense of Barbie Bassett, a Jackson, Mississippi journalist and meteorologist who was taken off the air earlier this month after she quoted Snoop Dogg. Bassett has not been seen on WLBT since March 8, when she mentioned one of the rapper's famous phrases while discussing his new Snoop Cali Blanc wine. She has not been fired, but her bio was removed from WLBT's website and she dropped all references to the network from her social media pages.

Bassett was a topic of conversation on The View Monday, with Goldberg telling viewers that "just because we're on television, doesn't mean we know everything." She added, "We don't know everything you're not supposed to do." It was "hard to keep up" with changing societal rules, especially "if you're a person of a certain age," Goldberg said.

"There has to be a book of stuff that nobody could ever say, ever, ever, ever. Include everything," Goldberg continued, reports the New York Post. "The things that change, you can say this, but you can't say that, but next week you might not be able to say this. It's hard to keep up."

Goldberg, who has taken responsibility multiple times for slip-ups on The View, said others should "at least" be allowed to do the same. They should have the opportunity to say they learned they should not have said it, Golberg noted, adding, "Because saying 'You're out' means that you don't want to hear what people have to say or the mistakes that they might have made that could have helped somebody else not make that mistake."

Charlamagne tha God also came to Bassett's defense on The Breakfast Club last week. "I don't think she should have been fired for that," he said. "She might not even know what 'nizzle' means, yo. Come on, like stop. That's not a reason to fire that woman."

During a March 8 broadcast, Bassett and her WLBT colleagues were discussing Snoop's recent launch of a new wine, Snoop Cali Blanc. Toward the end, Bassett said, "Fo shizzle, my nizzle." That last word is a slang term for the N— word. Bassett has not been on air since, but WLBT has not publicly announced Bassett's firing. "As I am sure you can understand, WLBT is unable to comment on personnel matters," WLBT Vice President and General Manager Ted Fortenberry told the Clarion Ledger.

Bassett previously got into trouble in October 2021. After referring to a Black journalist's "grandmammy" on-air, Bassett gave an on-air apology. She told viewers she would be going through "training so I can better understand our history and our people."

"Last Friday on our newscast Today at 11, I used a term that was offensive to many in our audience and to my coworkers here at WLBT. Though not intentional, I now understand how my comment was both insensitive and hurtful. I have apologized to Carmen Poe," Bassett said in October. "Now, I would like to apologize to you. That is not the heart of who I am. And for that, I humbly ask for your forgiveness and I apologize to everyone I have offended."