Whoopi Goldberg Misfires in Attack on Article About Black Oscar Winners

By Marc Schneider Posted Feb 14th 2011 03:36PM

Whoopi Goldberg used her bully pulpit on 'The View' on Monday to blast The New York Times and two of its marquee writers for what she believed was a disrespectful article about race and the Academy Awards. "I'm embarrassed to tell you it hurt me terribly," the actress said in a segment focusing on a piece written by Manohla Dargis and A. O. Scott that listed several black Oscar winners dating back to 1940, but didn't include Goldberg.

"When you win an Academy Award, that's part of what you've done, your legacy. I will always be Academy Award winner Whoopi Goldberg," she said during her lengthy rant, referring to her best supporting actress win for 'Ghost.' "This is not hidden information. And to these two critics, the head critics of The New York Times. It's hard to not take it personally."

The article, titled 'Hollywood's Whiteout,' apparently riled Goldberg up because it seemed to list all of the black Americans who have won an Oscar. A closer look, however, proved otherwise. The authors write that nine years ago, when Denzel Washington and Halle Berry won their historic Oscars:

"Real change seemed to have come to movies or at least the Academy, which had given statuettes to a total of seven black actors in the previous 73 years."

The article then notes that after Washington and Berry came a string of Oscar wins for Jamie Foxx, Forest Whitaker, Morgan Freeman, Jennifer Hudson and Mo'Nique.

It was presumably this passage, along with mentions of Sidney Poitier and Hattie McDaniel, that caused Goldberg to believe she had been forgotten. "People in Somalia know. People in China know," she said on 'The View.' "I know it's hard to believe, but I'm a worldwide person who's known."

But if a correction is what she desires, Goldberg will be waiting a very, very long time. PopEater reached out to the Times, and a source at the newspaper clarified that Goldberg won her Oscar for 1990's 'Ghost,' more than a decade before the time period that the authors were focusing on. In the article, Dargis and Scott were discussing race and the cinematic representation of people of color since 2002, when Berry and Washington were triumphant.

Later on Monday, the Times released a statement that tweaks Goldberg without naming her:

"The error lies with those who are reading the story incorrectly. The point of the piece was not to name every black actor or actress who has been awarded an Oscar, it was to draw a comparison between the number who won prior to 2002 (the year Halle Berry and Denzel Washington won) and those who have won since. And the story states very clearly that in 73 years, prior to 2002, only seven black actors/actresses won Oscars."

Also not mentioned in the article were Louis Gossett, Jr. (1982) and Cuba Gooding, Jr. (1996).

This year's Oscars have raised ire because there are no persons of color nominated in the acting categories.

Goldberg has not responded to requests to clarify her comments on 'The View,' which included some pretty pointed attacks on the journalists and the newspaper.

"I don't know what to say about what you've done. It's just, well, I can say, is that you're sloppy in your work and you're supposed to be better than this," she said. "This is The New York Times, not some bozo newspaper from Hoochi-Coochie land. This is The New York Times. I just, you know, it hurts."

► Read the New York Times article here.

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Whoopi!!!

Whoopi Goldberg leaves the Big Apple Apple store after getting her laptop repaired on Feb. 9. More Pics of the Star >>

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Whoopi Goldberg Snapshots

NEW YORK - FEBRUARY 10: Actress Whoopi Goldberg leaves the Lincoln Center Apple Store on February 10, 2011 in New York City. (Photo by Ray Tamarra/Getty Images)

Whoopi Goldberg Snapshots

NEW YORK - FEBRUARY 10: Actress Whoopi Goldberg leaves the Lincoln Center Apple Store on February 10, 2011 in New York City. (Photo by Ray Tamarra/Getty Images)

Whoopi Goldberg Snapshots

©BAUER-GRIFFIN.COM Whoopi Goldberg leaves the Apple store after getting her laptop repaired. NON-EXCLUSIVE February 9, 2011 Job: 110210X3 New York, New York www.bauergriffin.com www.bauergriffinonline.com

Whoopi Goldberg Snapshots

©BAUER-GRIFFIN.COM ***NO CANADA RIGHTS*** Whoopi Goldberg shops along Lincoln Road with friends, including a stop at Gap. NON-EXCLUSIVE January 15, 2011 Job: 110115X4 Miami, Florida www.bauergriffin.com www.bauergriffinonline.com

Whoopi Goldberg Snapshots

Tags: Oscars, the view, whoopi goldberg

Comments

(807)

Monday 14 February

By bryan

Highest Rank Vote down Vote up Report this

She shouldn't have gotten the Oscar in the first place. Did she actually do any acting in that movie? She was the only part of that movie that sucked - just like Star Trek Next Generation - that series died a little everytime she made an unimportant appearance in it.
I think the world would be better off the less whoopie goldberg we see.

By KR

I like Whoopi in some of her older films like Jumpin' Jack Flash, even Sister Act. But I've never seen her give an Oscar winning performance, although she did shine in The Color Purple. Her win for 'Ghost' was one of those frequent times that a supporting actress gets the award for having given the quirkiest performance of the group. Now she acts as though the award defines her? Hardly.

By george

Thats right Chiwali, just think how many blacks we would have if they did not kill each other off every year? Very good point Chiwali....thats what you meant, right?

Tuesday 15 February

By angel559

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YOU CANT EVEN SPELL HER NAME AND YOU TALK LIKE YOU ARE FROM THE GHETTO NO WONDER YOUNG BLACKS GET TALKED ABOUT BADLY AND YOU ALL ARE TURNING THIS INTO A SPELLING CONTEST WHEN YOU ARE SUPPOSE TO BE DISCUSSING WHAT WHOOPI SAID ABOUT THE ARTICLE

By Lynn

High Rank Vote down Vote up Report this

That really sucks and shows you have no intelligence. JMHO

By RJ

She's just another RACIST

By abbyj

Such racism. Shameful.

By stu

Dear Barbra Walters...fire Whoopies lazy butt! She ALWAYS looks like she just rolled out of bed.
"The Talk" will put ur show out to pasture.

There r no black,chinese,purple..actors that did any significant roles this yr-period!

By lovenik

Lowest Rank Vote down Vote up Report this

There are no purple people, you waste of sperm! Too bad birth control isn't retroactive in your case!!

By Don Park

I agree, Barbara Walters needs to fire Whoopi. She is nothing but a Black Racist. I refuse to watch there TV program any moore!!!!!

By Red

Where do we get these ignorant people...stay in school please! News flash stop being racist as well it isn't sexy at all!

By CoCo Sutton

That depends on what movie you chose to see. Janet Jaackson should have gotten one for her role in Tyler Perry's movie "For Colored Girls", her performance was spectacular.

By roni

i am white america and you are STUPID

By Leila

Except that 'For Colored Girls' was deemed a flop. Why would an actor win an award for a movie that sucked? Are we to have racism in the award shows too? Stop focusing on skin color and focus on achievement.

Lovenik, I'd be your daddy if that dog hadn't beaten me over the fence

By medseal

If there are no purple people, were the Purple People Eaters purple or were the people they were to eat purple?

By KWEENBEENEMESIS

stu, you are just plain nasty to the core...

By Andy

Leave it to a "person of color" to start spewing off at the mouth before having all the facts straight!

By jeanne

Agree that Whoopi is a fossil and still not over herself. Pulls the race card constantly. Tiresome.

By nmariong

Yeh! It's not like all the people that have misled into the financial crisis the nation faces today. Reagan, he had color. Cheney, totally with color. Bush, both of them, being cowboy is just like color. Rumsfeld, color, again. whew. color, color, color!

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