“The View” co-host Whoopi Goldberg responded Monday to reporting that ABC News executive Barbara Fedida made racist comments, saying she didn’t believe Fedida is racist.
Still, she backed the independent investigation into Fedida’s conduct at ABC, which airs “The View.”
During a conversation that also included co-host Sunny Hostin reacting not only to what Fedida reportedly said about ABC News talent of color at large, but about Hostin specifically, Goldberg said, “I know Barbara Fedida and I don’t think she’s a racist. Everything I know about her doesn’t say that she has this in her.”
She went on, “But I will say that one of the things that everyone should always make sure we say — and I say it all the time — is let’s find out. Let’s find out. If it’s true, she’s gone. If it’s not, let’s find out what’s going on. An independent investigation is what this needs. The days of systemic racism are ending. Those walls are coming down and we’re pulling them down.”
“It was a tough weekend for me and I was really disappointed and saddened and hurt when I learned about the racist comments that were made, allegedly, about me, my colleagues and my dear friends,” Hostin said at the top of the daytime show, which airs on ABC. She went on, like Goldberg, to highlight the insidious nature of systemic racism.
Hostin also thanked Goldberg and co-host Meghan McCain by name for their support in the days since the report on Fedida’s alleged comments came out in the Huffington Post.