‘The View’: Whoopi Goldberg Issues Rare On-Air Apology to Elon Musk

Whoopi Goldberg issued a rare retraction of her words about and an apology to Elon Musk on air during Thursday’s (May 14) episode of The View.

During another discussion of the backlash to Christopher Nolan‘s casting choices for The Odyssey, including reports that Lupita Nyong’o will portray Helen of Troy and Elliot Page will portray Achilles, she said something about the Tesla, SpaceX, and X CEO that she instantly regretted.

Goldberg said to start the “Hot Topic” discussion, “OK, so you remember I said, ‘Just sit tight for this last one,’ sit even tighter for this. Apparently, conservatives are freaking out over Christopher Nolan’s casting choices for the upcoming epic, The Odyssey… Elon Musk, you know, the man from South Africa who was OK with apartheid, is still railing against Lupita Nyong’o playing the fabled, most beautiful woman in the world, Helen of Troy. Newsmax is also losing it over rumors that Achilles will be portrayed by actor Elliot Page. Again, none of this is nobody knows who’s been cast. But check this out.”

She then rolled footage of conservative commentators slamming the casting decisions, arguing Helen of Troy was “definitely white” and that it’s a “rewriting of history” and decrying the casting of Page, a transgender man, for the role of the supreme warrior.

After the reel, Goldberg immediately walked back her statement about Musk, saying, “Let me just say this first because I know will have upset people. I don’t know that he was an apartheid apologist. I don’t know anything about him, except that I’m not a fan, so I take it back.”

Then, Behar, who’d previously pointed to his South African history in the panel’s prior discussion of The Odyssey casting backlash, noted, “Well, he was there during that time.”

“I’m not saying he was there. I don’t know that he was there. I wasn’t there,” Goldberg said in response. “I don’t know if he was there. So I’m saying, ‘OK.'” She then opened up the topical discussion on the issue saying, “Why is this upsetting you? Why don’t you just not go to the movie?”

Alyssa Farah Griffin answered that by saying, “Because that’d be an easy solution.”

Sunny Hostin then said, “Racism rears its ugly head often — and more often now than ever, I think, in our country — but if you are a student of history, you know that scholars have debated for decades the extent to which Greek mythology and civilization were influenced by ancient Egypt and North Africa. It is very clear that Andromeda is described as an Ethiopian Princess. We have Othello, the ‘moor’… This idea was also explored in a book called Black Athena, I think people should read it, which argues that classical Greek culture is heavily indebted to Afro, Asiatic, and Near-Eastern roots. I actually taught Greek mythology to eighth graders, and so I covered this. So people that are saying that Helen of Troy could not possibly be played by a Black woman don’t know.”

Griffin said, “It’s like The Little Mermaid and there was this whole uproar. Elon Musk has multiple companies valued at over a trillion dollars. How do you even have the time to worry about this?”

Sara Haines then offered an admittedly “shallow” take and pointed to the painting of Helen of Troy that the conservative commentator showed when discussing the issue, and saying, “Beauty is subjective, but I’d like you to prove to me that she’s more beautiful than Lupita Nyong’o.”

'The View's Whoopi Goldberg & Joy Behar Go Nuclear on Trump Over Economy Statement

Goldberg closed the argument by saying, “It is subjective. But my point is, what I don’t understand, why you feel the need when there’s so much going on in the world, why this is what’s upsetting you? This? These are oftentimes fictitious characters. They’re put into the zeitgeist to explain how things happen in the world. Who knows, none of us were there.”

She then closed the entire segment with an apology for Musk, saying, “Once again, I apologize for insinuating something that I don’t have any facts to back it up.”

The View, weekdays, 11a/10c, ABC

More Headlines:

(0) comments

Welcome to the discussion.

Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.