Whoopi Goldberg has called for Janet Jackson to be given “a little grace.”
“The View” cohost launched a fierce defense of Jackson as she continues to face backlash over an interview she gave The Guardian in which she falsely claimed Vice President Kamala Harris wasn’t Black, echoing a right-wing conspiracy theory.
Goldberg spoke up after her on-set colleague Ana Navarro accused Jackson of “spreading misinformation.”
“Hold on, hold on. Yeah, she’s got a phone – Janet Jackson is not a political animal,” Goldberg shot back when Navarro retorted that Jackson “has a phone” to check her facts before speaking.
“She’s a musician; her life is doing this, and she’s mourning her brother. Sometimes I’ve said stuff — and I was wrong — but people want you to say something right away. But when people are coming at you saying, ‘Hey, you’re dumb, you don’t know …’ you know, you don’t want to answer people — and it is a pain in the butt, I have to tell you,” Goldberg stated.
“Sometimes people get it wrong, and they’re wrong. They made a mistake; they were wrong, it happens [and] anybody who says it doesn’t happen to every one of us, multiracial or not. We all do it. So, a little grace for the girl; a little grace for the girl, all right?” Goldberg said, in reference to the recent death of Jackson’s brother Tito Jackson.
It was reported on Sept. 22 that Jackson had apologized for her remarks about Harris via a statement released on her behalf. However, on Sept. 23 Jackson’s management said that an unauthorized party had spoken on the singer’s behalf and told Variety that the widely released statement came from someone who is not a manager for the singer.
