Viewers Rip Whoopi Goldberg for Displaying COVID ‘Hypocrisy’ After Returning to ‘The View’

Whoopi Goldberg was hit with fan backlash after returning to the set of The View, after enduring a bout with COVID. The 67-year-old returned to the show on Monday after taking time off to recover from her illness. 

Co-host, Sara Haines, took over as moderator during Whoopi’s absence and was joined by new co-hosts, Ana Navaro and Alyssa Farah Griffin. A rep for Whoopi told Entertainment Weekly that the TV personality had been feeling ill before the show, before testing positive for COVID. 

The studio audience welcomed Whoopi back warmly, as the episode kicked off. Her voice was raspy and she still had a cough, but the “Sister Act” actress was able to speak about her experience. 

“This was a rough one, it wasn’t feeling rough, it was rough,” she shared. “Listen, this is no joke. You know when we wore our masks, everybody was mad but nobody got sick.”

She continued — “Now we’ve taken the masks off, and all the stuff that used to happen to us all the time is happening again. And cause we’ve got so many different takes on Covid, it’s evolving here, it’s evolving here.”

The chat show panelist noted — “If you hear me cough, I don’t have it, it’s just me trying to clear you know so that you can understand me when I’m speaking.”

Fans did not appreciate Whoopi’s live coughing spells and took to Twitter to voice their opinions. 

One Twitter user wrote — “Whoopi is still coughing after covid, and they still made her come in. Ain’t capitalism great!” 

Another tweeted — “Whoopi cough, oh darn.”

A third fan pointed out — “Let’s wear our masks’ with none of them wearing one and Whoopi just finished coughing her guts out.”

Some viewers called out the chat show personality for not practicing what she preached when it involved wearing masks.

One person said — “I accidentally had my channel on ABC & was subjected to Whoopi telling everyone to wear masks still while not wearing a mask & she wanted to make sure people knew that her coughs were not contagious after her bout with COVID. #TheView, posturing & telling women how to think.”

Another fan chimed in — “Why is this woman not using a mask if she’s had COVID several times including last week, is one of the most unhealthy people I have ever seen & requires her audience to wear masks? Total hypocrisy.”

Whoopi’s hosting skills were also seemingly affected, as she missed a cue during an interview with rapper, Rev Run. 

The artist told Whoopi that he was glad she was back and on the mend.

“Yeah. I had COVID,” Whoopi responded. “Yeah. I was out again. Over it.”

She then pointed to the camera and commented — “Oh, you want me to talk? Ok,” before she led into a commercial break. 

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