Whoopi Goldberg Calls 'American Idol' the 'Beginning of the Downfall of Society'
'The View' co-host worries her producer when she begins bashing the ABC show.
Whoopi Goldberg might be in trouble with The View's network — ABC. The 67-year-old co-host of talk show spoke out against another ABC program during a panel discussion this week.
While chatting about the recent Anna Nicole Smith documentary, You Don't Know Me, Goldberg talked about society's obsession with judging others.
"I think, you know, that we as a society love to watch stuff, to judge folks," Goldberg said. "I've always thought that the beginning of the downfall of society was with... what's the name of that show?"
"That's ABC's American Idol," a producer replied, smiling.
"It was not always on ABC. When it began, it was on another network," Goldberg added of the music competition show.
She went on to explain her comment about Idol, noting, "Once we gave people the ability to judge other people, I think we ran amok... They invite the public to decide who that person was. It began us in a cycle."
As The View's producer and Goldberg's fellow panelists encouraged her to stay positive about their network's show, which she conceded, "When I was watching it, ABC didn't have it. It was a different show. It's a very different show. The judges are different... ABC knows that I feel like this. I've told them. It has nothing to do with them. It has to do with the show."
Idol started on Fox in 2002 and quickly became a part of the cultural landscape due mostly in part to judge Simon Cowell, who was known for his scathing critiques of contestants. Cowell and fellow judges Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson offered up their praise and criticism to contestants for eight seasons. Since that time, the show has been through a variety of other celebrity judges. Currently, Katy Perry, Lionel Richie, and Luke Bryan serve on the judging panel.
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