Whoopi Goldberg has voiced her opinion over Meghan Markle’s remarks about her time on Deal or No Deal, when the duchess admitted she felt ‘objectified’ on the show.
In an episode of the Duchess of Sussex’s Archetype podcast on Spotify, she explained that when she was on the programme, she ‘didn’t like feeling forced to be all looks and little substance’ as one of the women whose job it was to hold up the suitcases.
‘And that’s how it felt for me at the time being reduced to this specific archetype,’ the 41-year-old said, before playing a clip of The New Yorker’s Clare Malone discussing the word ‘bimbo’ and how it’s used to ‘cut down a beautiful woman’.
While talking about Meghan’s comments on The View, Whoopi began by outlining what Meghan’s former job entailed, stating: ‘OK. I just wanna say that on that show, you basically had a suitcase, and they wanted to know, “Is this the deal you want, or this is not the deal you want?”’
The Sister Act star continued: ‘I don’t know that the people who are sitting there are thinking about you like that. They’re thinking: “I want the money.”’
Whoopi expressed her opinion that the ‘objectification might be coming from you and how you felt about how these women were being portrayed’.
‘That’s what you have to change because we’re performers. When you’re a performer, you take the gig. You take the gig. Sometimes, you’re in a bozo suit, sometimes you’ve got a big nose, and this is just the way it is,’ the 66-year-old said.
‘We’re not journalists, we’re actors, we’re trying to get to another place. And you left and that was your prerogative. But I feel bad, because I don’t think that people were looking at these girls like this, I think people were looking at the money.’
Fellow The View co-host Joy Behar, 80, chimed in to question why so often on gameshows, the host is a man who works alongside a ‘gorgeous woman turning letters or holding a box’, as the audience in the studio clapped.
Sunny Hostin, 54, added that Deal or No Deal ‘had no big girls’, as in her perspective, they hired ‘little skinny, tiny, pretty models’.
‘But what did you think you were going to? You know that’s what the show was,’ Whoopi responded.
Sunny replied: ‘I agree with that, she took the job. She needed the gig. And I also appreciate that she said well this makes me feel bad, I’m going to walk away, and she walked away. And I think that’s the point.’
‘That’s a great point,’ Whoopi acknowledged, before adding: ‘My point is, if you see it and that’s how you feel, just maybe, you don’t want to make the other women feel bad because maybe they’re trying to make a living, too.’
Meghan’s Deal or No Deal co-star Claudia Jordan, 49, recently spoke out to refute the duchess’ personal experience on the series, insisting that they were offered ‘so many opportunities’ after appearing on the show.
‘For clarity – yes getting a modeling gig on a game show isn’t necessarily about your intellect, but every show the executive producers picked five models with the most outgoing and fun personalities to place mics on, who they knew would engage with the contestants,’ she said.
‘And Deal or No Deal never treated us like bimbos. We got so many opportunities because of that show.’
The View airs on ABC in the US.
