Whoopi Goldberg recently voiced her confusion over the backlash Princess Kate faced after admitting to editing a photo with her children, which has garnered much attention for its Photoshop discrepancies.
"I’m sorry, I know very few people who don’t manipulate their own photos. I mean all you gotta do is swipe. Those editors swipe, God knows people look how those photos look," Whoopi remarked during a discussion on The View.
The conversation intensified when Sara Haines differentiated between "filtering" and outright Photoshopping, a point Whoopi contested.
"She's doing the same thing, she’s doing the same thing!" Whoopi exclaimed, emphasizing that photo manipulation is commonplace.
"You know what, I have to tell you, she may be the future queen, but she’s still an amateur photographer. That’s what they do!" she added, addressing Kate's dual role as a public figure and a private individual enjoying photography.
Whoopi then playfully accused her co-hosts, "I’m sure that none of you have ever tampered with your [photos]."
Ana Navarro humorously admitted, "Listen, if manipulating pictures was a crime, the Kardashians, my best friend and I would be in jail for the rest of our lives," eliciting laughter from the audience.
Whoopi, undeterred, reiterated her point, "Didn’t I just say that this is something that everyone does? Didn’t I just say that people do this all the time?!"
Defending Kate further, Whoopi found it unnecessary for people to remain upset after Kate openly admitted to editing the images. "Listen, I manipulated the pictures, I’m sorry," Whoopi quoted Kate, highlighting her transparency.
Alyssa Farah Griffin suggested that the controversy "feeds fuel to this fire of conspiracies," referring to the speculation around Kate's activities post-surgery.
Alyssa proposed Kate release a selfie video to address the speculation, to which Whoopi firmly responded, "She doesn’t need to do it! She doesn’t need to do it!" illustrating her stance that Kate owes no further explanation.
Whoopi shared her personal experiences with photo manipulation, noting, "I’ve been on the cover of magazines where they’ve edited out my wrinkles, lightened up my color, even put a donkey nose on my face."
She stressed the normalcy of altering images, "People can do anything they want to do with pictures –– this should not be a shock."
The discussion briefly shifted to Kate not wearing her engagement ring in the controversial photo before concluding.
Following the backlash, Princess Kate issued an apology on Twitter: "Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing. I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused," highlighting her intentions behind sharing the edited photo and wishing everyone a happy Mother’s Day.
The debated photo featured the royal family in a casual setting, with Princess Kate surrounded by her and Prince William's children—Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis—capturing a moment intended for a personal Mother's Day tribute.
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