whoopi

The View's Whoopi Goldberg makes on-air apology after accusations of 'defamatory statements'

'My bad,' said Whoopi

Rebecca Lewis - Los Angeles
Los Angeles correspondentLos Angeles
July 29, 2022

The View's Whoopi Goldberg has made an on-air apology after being accused of "defamatory statements" by conservative student group Turning Point USA.

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On Thursday's show Whoopi told viewers that "in Monday's conversation about Turning Point USA, I put the young people at the conference in the same category as the protesters outside".

WATCH: The View hosts accused of 'defamatory statements'

She went on to say that she doesn't "like it when people make assumptions about me," admitting that "it's not any better when I make assumptions about other people, which I did," concluding: "So, my bad, I'm sorry."

On Monday the show's hosts including Sara Haines and Joy Behar discussed the group's convention which took place the prior weekend, linking the Neo-Nazi protestors outside to the conservative guests inside.

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"Neo-Nazis were out there in the front of the conference with anti-semitic slurs and ... the Nazi swastika and a picture of a so-called Jewish person with exaggerated features, just like Goebbels did during the Third Reich. It's the same thing, right out of the same playbook," said Joy.

Sara later read out a statement from the conservative student group which condemned the protesters, but Whoopi added: "You let them in and you knew what they were, so you are complicit."

The View hosts were asked to apologize

She later explained that she was speaking metaphorically; the protestors were never inside the convention. After their discussion, Turning Point USA sent a cease-and-desist letter to ABC News.

On Wednesday, Sara read out a statement from the network, further apologizing for the remarks.

"On Monday we talked about the fact that were openly Neo-Nazi demonstrators outside the Florida student action summit of the Turning Point USA group. We want to make clear that these demonstrators were gathered outside the event and that they were not invited or endorsed by Turning Point USA," she said.

The statement also included remarks from the organizatiuon directly, as they claimed that they "100 percent condemn those ideologies," and that they had "tried to remove the Neo-Nazis from the area but could not because they were on public property".

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