Whoopi Goldberg criticizes Meghan Markle’s ‘Deal or No Deal’ comments
That’s showbiz baby.
Whoopi Goldberg rejected Meghan Markle’s claims that she felt “objectified” on “Deal or No Deal,” stating that taking jobs that aren’t ideal is part of being new to the entertainment business.
“When you’re a performer, you take the gig,” the talk show host, 66, explained on Wednesday’s episode of “The View.”
“You take the gig. Sometimes, you’re in a Bozo suit, sometimes you got a big nose, and this is just the way it is.”
Goldberg continued, “We’re not journalists. We’re actors. We’re trying to get to another place.”
Markle — who worked as one of the models that held a briefcase on the now-defunct game show — said on the latest episode of her podcast, “Archetypes,” that she quit because she was “so much more than what was being objectified on the stage.”
“I didn’t like feeling forced to be all looks and little substance, and that’s how it felt for me at the time being reduced to this specific archetype: the word ‘bimbo,'” the Duchess of Sussex added.
Goldberg also argued in her segment Wednesday that she believes the objectification that Markle, 41, had been feeling may have been coming from within and how she “felt about how these women were being portrayed.”
“I feel bad because I don’t think that people were looking at these girls like this, I think people want the money,” the “Sister Act” star added.
Goldberg concluded, “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.”
One of the models who participated in “Deal or No Deal” alongside Markle, Claudia Jordan, also spoke out against the former “Suits” star over her comments this week.
“For clarity — yes getting a MODELING GIG on a game show isn’t necessarily about your intellect BUT every show the executive producers picked 5 models with the most outgoing and fun personalities to place mics on who they KNEW would engage with the contestants,” the “Real Housewives of Atlanta” alum, 49, said on her Instagram Stories.
“Deal or No Deal NEVER treated us like bimbos. We got so many opportunities because of that show, Fremantle and @nbc.”
Jordan added, “That’s the kind of opportunity that IS what you make it. If you just show up and don’t engage — then you’ll check and not get much out of it — but if you show up and seize your moments … Then there’s no limits to what you can do with the opportunity.”