Whoopi Goldberg Addresses Controversial Comments on The View

Whoopi Goldberg had to take back a statement during today’s episode of The View. After hinting that she might have made some inappropriate remarks while intoxicated in the past, audience members insisted she was “not a racist.”

This uncomfortable exchange came up while discussing Maine Democrat Graham Platner. His past has been scrutinized again, especially concerning a tattoo of a Nazi symbol he got while drinking in Croatia as a young Marine in the early 2000s.

“I don’t buy it,” Joy Behar responded. “I don’t just start spouting Nazi slogans after a few glasses of wine.”

Goldberg acknowledged that when she drank, “weird things came out of my mouth.”

Behar quickly interjected, “No, Whoopi, come on,” to which Goldberg defended, “Not to us today, but to people back then it must have been scary.”

Behar pointed out that Goldberg never actually made any “racist” or “anti-Semitic” comments, but Goldberg fired back, “But you don’t even know that!”

“I can’t say I didn’t do stupid things when I was drunk,” she continued, adding, “But I took responsibility for it before anyone else found out.”

Goldberg, who has publicly talked about her struggles with cocaine addiction in the 1980s, cautioned viewers not to expect any evidence of her “stupid behavior.”

“Don’t think you guys are looking for anything! You won’t find anything of me drunk because I haven’t drunk in years,” she stated directly to the camera. “What I’m saying is that I understand when people do stupid things, but you have to take responsibility for it.”

After a commercial break, Goldberg elaborated on her earlier comments, indicating she had made offensive remarks in the past but insisted she was “not a racist.”

“What I’m saying is that sometimes people say stupid things when they’re drunk,” she clarified. “I’m not a racist. I understand why people want to send stuff like that. Don’t do that. Please don’t do that, okay?”

The View airs on ABC weekdays at 11/10c.