Whoopi Goldberg calls American Idol ‘Beginning’ of Social Downfall

The View producer corrects Whoopi Goldberg on air after she calls American Idol the beginning of the downfall of society

On Wednesday’s The View, Whoopi Goldberg got in a bit of trouble with her producers after she called out American Idol. He reminded her that the show aired on The View’s network, ABC, and she didn’t like being reprimanded one bit.

To clarify, Whoopie was criticizing the FOX era of the show when Simon Cowell routinely and bluntly criticized contestants for everything from their weight, to the clothing choices and vocals. He would outright tell singers that they had no talent. Sometimes contestants left the audition room angry, but more often in tears.

The ABC version of American Idol featuring Lionel Richie, Katy Perry and Luke Bryan on the panel mostly praise contestants or give them “constructive” criticism. Of course, that doesn’t mean singers and their fans aren’t sometimes offended anyway.

It was a discussion about the late starlet Anna Nicole Smith, and how cruel the press was to her while she was alive. A recent piece suggested that the term “gold digger” should be retired. Anna famously married a very rich man in his 90s. After he died, she battled with his children for his fortune.

Whoopi called Ana a very nice woman and that the new documentary explains why her life was in a shambles before she passed away in 2007 of an accidental drug overdose.

Because The View is on the same network as American Idol (ABC) the onset producer tried to intervene as Whoopie called the show out. She was NOT happy.

“We as a society love to watch stuff to judge folks,” said Whoopi, “I’ve always thought that the beginning of the downfall of society was with…” She points to a producer and asks “What’s the name of that show?” He responds, “ABC’s American Idol” with a distinct emphasis on the “ABC” part of the answer. Producer was NOT happy Whoopi was dissing a network program.

“It was not always on ABC!” she insisted. “When it began it was on another network.” When co-host Joy Behar scoffed at Whoopi’s seemingly overblown opinion, she explained, “Once we gave people the ability to judge other people, I think we ran amuck with it and it’s gone out of control.” Joy cites the Gong Show from back in the 70s, which ridiculed bad acts. But one could argue the acts knew they were goofs and there was very little at stake.

American Idol gave people permission to judge, says Whoopi

Whoopi feels that American Idol gave people permission to “Judge.” And once they did that, she says, “It began a cycle.”

She glances at the producer at that point, who was perhaps motioning her to stop. “Did you really just do that? she said. The camera cuts to the producer. “It’s gotten better, remember?” he says, “You like it now!” Really annoyed, Whoopi says, “ABC has it now. It’s a different show. The judges are different with people. But when it first began, it was a very different…And ABC knows that I feel like this! I’ve told them. It had nothing to do with them. It had to do with the show!”

“You starting stuff man!” says Whoopi. But by the time the segment cut to commercial, she was laughing it all off.

Cruelty began on the internet before American Idol hit the airwaves in 2002. Mean gossip columnists were already bullying celebrities online. Women got the worst of it. American Idol didn’t kick it off. Creator Simon Fuller brought the show over from the United Kingdom, where both Simon and producer/panelist Nigel Lythgoe brutalized contestants from the panel. American Idol was part of the culture of cruelty. It didn’t start it

About mj santilli 34829 Articles
Founder and editor of mjsbigblog.com, home of the awesomest fan community on the net. I love cheesy singing shows of all kinds, whether reality or scripted. I adore American Idol, but also love The Voice, Glee, X Factor and more!