Whoopi Goldberg has come forward in support of Barbie Bassett, the disgraced weatherwoman.
Goldberg criticized the decision by a Mississippi news station to fire Bassett, ostensibly because the anchor had quoted a Snoop Dogg song on live TV.
Whoopi Goldberg insisted on Monday’s episode of “The View” that
just because we’re on television, doesn’t mean we know everything.
We don’t know everything you’re not supposed to do,
Earlier this week, she said this about NBC affiliate WLBT as part of her regular criticism.
Bassett was the first chief meteorologist for the Jackson network. She was fired after saying “fo shizzle, my nizzle” on air while talking about the latest wine from rapper Snoop Dogg’s Cali wine line.
After the mistake, which quickly went viral on social media, Bassett was taken off the team page of the station’s website and hasn’t been on air since March 8.
Whoopi Goldberg, who is 67 years old, said that it’s “hard to keep up” with the social rules about what people can and can’t say, especially “f you’re a person of a certain age.”
There has to be a book of stuff that nobody could ever say, ever, ever, ever. Include everything,
Goldberg said.
The things that change, you can say this, but you can’t say that, but next week you might not be able to say this. It’s hard to keep up.
Whoopi Goldberg went on to say that if someone makes a mistake, they should be able to “at least” take responsibility and admit it, as she has done many times herself.
You know what, I’ve just been informed that I should not have done that.
Because saying ‘You’re out’ means that you don’t want to hear what people have to say or the mistakes that they might have made that could have helped somebody else not make that mistake,
she concluded.
The movie star has made mistakes on air and had to say sorry in public before. Whoopi Goldberg made a slur against Romani people earlier this month when he talked about former President Donald Trump. She also made waves last year when she used a Holocaust slur, which got her temporarily kicked off “The View.”
Bassett has gotten a lot of support since she was kicked off the network.
Last week, on his syndicated radio show, “The Breakfast Club,” radio host Charlamagne tha God also defended the news anchor, saying,
I don’t think she should have been fired for that.
She might not even know what ‘nizzle’ means, yo,
he added.
Come on, like stop. That’s not a reason to fire that woman.
Ted Fortenberry, the station’s regional vice president and general manager, said that WLBT “cannot comment on personnel matters” and that their “policies are clear” and “communicated fully to all team members” through “plenty of resources and training.”
WLBT enforces all station policies in a manner that is fair and even-handed,
Fortenberry concluded.
Bassett, for her part, hasn’t talked about the incident in public and has only posted a cryptic quote on Instagram about being able to “withstand this storm.”
Bassett had already apologized on-air in October 2022 for calling the grandmother of a black reporter “grandmammy.”
Though not intentional, I now understand how my comment was both insensitive and hurtful. I have apologized to Carmen Poe,
Bassett said, referring to her aggrieved colleague.
Bassett continued,
Now, I would like to apologize to you. That is not the heart of who I am. And for that, I humbly ask for your forgiveness and I apologize to everyone I have offended.
I will learn from this and participate in training so I can better understand our history and our people,” she added. “I can’t mend the hurt my comment caused. I pray you’ll forgive me and that you’ll extend grace through this awful mistake.
