Whoopi Goldberg apologises for using derogatory slur on ‘The View’

Whoopi Goldberg has apologised after she used a racial slur during an episode of The View.

On Wednesday’s episode (March 15) of the US talk show, the panel discussed Donald Trump’s alleged connection to adult film actor Stormy Daniels. Goldberg then segued into a point about Trump’s larger support base.

“The people who still believe that he got, you know, gyp**d somehow in the election, will still believe that he cared enough about his wife to pay the… “ Goldberg said, pausing to burp. “…that was gas… money from his personal thing.”

After the comment aired, Goldberg released an apology video through the show’s Twitter account. “When you’re a certain age, you use words that you know from when you’re a kid or you remember saying, and that’s what I did today and I shouldn’t of.

A message from Whoopi Goldberg regarding today’s episode of #TheView. pic.twitter.com/PIvwYRWMsy

— The View (@TheView) March 15, 2023

“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.”

The term, as noted by an NPR article, is an abbreviation of the word “gypsy” and “carries many negative connotations”. As outlined by US dictionary Merriam-Webster, the derivative term is used to describe someone who has been cheated or swindled.

Goldberg previously apologised after she said the Holocaust “isn’t about race” during an episode of the show. She was subsequently suspended from The View for two weeks.

In her apology, Goldberg said: “On today’s show I said the Holocaust is not about race, but about man’s inhumanity to man. I should have said it is about both.”

She added: “The Jewish people around the world have always had my support and that will never (waver). I am sorry for the hurt I have caused.”