Whoopi Goldberg shuts down “The View” cohost for questioning that she once weighed 300 pounds: ‘I looked like 5 people’

Key Points

• Whoopi Goldberg grew slightly annoyed with Joy Behar during an interview with Mindy Kaling.

• The View moderator shut Behar down after the comedian questioned the star’s reveal that she used to weigh 300 pounds.

• “Joy, I did!” Goldberg said, though Behar still expressed disbelief.

Whoopi Goldberg pushed back against The View cohost Joy Behar in a tense on-air moment about the actress’ body.

During a Wednesday morning interview with writer-actress Mindy Kaling, who recently opened up about her own weight-loss journey, the panel spoke with the TV star about how the public receives such drastic transformations when it comes to celebrities’ physical appearance.

“I think we feel betrayed,” Kaling admitted, pointing out that it might be jarring for some to see a star present themselves with a new look.

Behar speculated that “they want you to stay the way they loved you,” with the Hot Topics table invoking the 1988 talk show moment that saw Oprah Winfrey wheel out a wagon filled with animal fat to represent her own body transformation.

Whoopi Goldberg on ‘The View’
Credit: ABC

“She felt it really was sort of mocking and saying to people, look what I did,” Goldberg said, reflecting on what she said was Winfrey’s regret over the on-air movie.

Goldberg continued, attempting to make a point about when she “weighed 300” pounds in the past. Behar could be heard disputing the claim, while Goldberg quickly replied, “Yes I did. Joy, you keep saying…”

Goldberg paused after Behar again denied Goldberg’s recollection, prompting the clearly exasperated Ghost star to shut Behar down in the moment: “Joy, I did!”

“When was that? Since I’ve known you?” Behar asked, to which Goldberg replied: “When I did [the 2022 movie] Till, I was 279 [pounds], and I looked like five people.”

Behar turned the moment into a joke, telling Goldberg, “They say Black don’t crack? You don’t have anything hanging. How could that be?”

Goldberg smiled as she quipped back: “It’s hanging, you just don’t see it!”

Turning the conversation back to Kaling, Goldberg said, “My point is, people get mad at you because you did something they want to do, but they don’t have the impetus yet, they don’t know how to get it there, resources, it’s all kinds of stuff,” while Kaling finished the topic by revealing that her family is the reason she decided to lose weight.

Whoopi Goldberg, Sara Haines, Joy Behar, Mindy Kaling, Sunny Hostin, and Alyssa Farah Griffin on ‘The View’
Credit: ABC

“I’m 46, I’m a single mom of three kids. My mom died young of cancer, both of my parents have diabetes,” she revealed. “I need to live. I need to live, and my kids need me.”

Goldberg has addressed her body on The View in the past, including during a 2022 moment that saw her call out a movie critic who accused her of wearing a fat suit in the aforementioned Till movie.

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“I don’t really care how you felt about the movie, but you should know that was not a fat suit, that was me…. I assume you don’t watch the show, or you would know that was not a fat suit,” Goldberg said.

Goldberg told the audience that it was “okay to not be a fan of a movie,” but suggested that the journalist “leave people’s looks out” of her criticism. “Just comment on the acting, and if you have a question, ask somebody. I’m sure you didn’t mean to be demeaning,” she finished.

The View airs weekdays on ABC.

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