Whoopi Goldberg appears during the presentation of the Pirelli 2020 Calendar on 3 December 2019. (Getty/Marco Piraccini/Archivio Marco Piraccini/Mondadori Portfolio)
Whoopi Goldberg revisited the backlash she faced for joking about president George W Bush while railing against cancel culture.
The legendary American actor addressed the issue at the Edinburgh TV Festival, according to Variety. During the festival’s international icon interview, Goldberg shared that her career came to a “gigantic halt” after she made a joke about then-president George W Bush in 2004.
Goldberg subsequently lost a sponsorship deal with SlimFast and said she was out of work for several years until she was brought on to The View by Barbara Walters in 2007.
But Whoopi Goldberg denied that she had been cancelled.
“I would describe the situation as a lot of people covering their backsides because the joke was never about him,” she said.
Goldberg continued: “But no one ever stood up and said: ‘Hey here’s what actually happened,’ and they put it in the newspaper.
“And you notice, they’d never say what I exactly said or what I said at all. But all somebody has to do is say you said it.”
“I feel like the truth doesn’t seem to matter as much these days,” Goldberg added.
The outspoken actor finished up the interview by confirming her continued interest in taking on the leading role for the longstanding British sci-fi series Doctor Who.
The EGOT winner has long campaigned for the role, and after the BBC confirmed that Jodie Whittaker – who became the first-ever female Time Lord in 2017 – will step down from the role in 2022, there is a vacancy.
Rumours have been swirling around who could take her place with It’s A Sin star Olly Alexander as a fan favourite, despite his repeated denials he would join the show.
Whoopi Goldberg said she didn’t know if she could take on the role as she is American, and traditionally, the role has been played by Brits.
“I would like to have played Doctor Who, but I think it would mean an evolution into being American,” Goldberg said. “I don’t know if that’s correct for Doctor Who. I don’t know if I can usurp that.”