ABC’s ‘The View’ was finally entertaining this week, but unsurprisingly, the fun had nothing to do with what came out of the star’s mouths. The hilarity came when the hosts were discussing the classified documents that were found at former Vice President Mike Pence’s house. At one moment, the hosts are having a normal (for them) political discussion, then before you know it there’s a spill on the table.
Then, at the perfect moment, a loud fart ripped through the noise, sounding almost like a cartoon sound effect. Except, ‘The View’ isn’t a cartoon. The hosts turned their attention briefly toward Whoopi as they smirked and tried to hide their laughter. Alyssa Farah Griffin can even be seen trying to continue the Pence discussion before she breaks into laughter again, at what, by all accounts, seems to be some horrendous flatulence from Whoopi.
Thank goodness technology hasn’t evolved to the point where videos share scent, along with audio and visual, because I don’t think I could handle the video clip you’ll see below. Now, just like most stories having to do with this show if you do a little more digging you find that the problem isn’t a one-time deal. According to People, Whoopi once even had an elevator farting contest with other celebrities.
According to that report, Goldberg’s granddaughter, Amara Skye Dean, said that Goldberg, Billy Crystal, and Robin Williams had an elevator fart war as a “silly gag.” Describing what she heard about the event, Dean said, “I wasn’t there, but it was my favorite story that my grandmother has told me, about her, Robin Williams and Billy Crystal standing in an elevator, and Robin Williams was just farting his life away.”
Continuing, Dean went on to add, “I guess they were Dutch-ovening each other, just basking in the ambiance of farts.” She also joked about Whoopi’s name in the context of the farting contest, saying, “My grandma got her name because she likes to fart a lot. So, whoopee cushions, farts. That’s how Caryn Johnson became Whoopi Goldberg.”
I always knew that she had no shame, but that etymology is news to me. Whoopi is also producing these gaffes at an alarming rate, even for her. It was only in September of 2023 that she was made to apologize for implying that Turning Point USA, a college conservative group, were Neo-Nazis;
“So, on Monday we talked about the fact there were openly neo-Nazi demonstrators outside the Florida Student Action Summit of the Turning Point USA group. We want to make clear these demonstrators were gathered outside the event and that they were not invited or endorsed by Turning Point USA.” That marked her 34th retraction in 2022, what a year.
The massive fart, combined with the hosts ineffectively trying to corral a water spill, made for one of the most iconic moments in the recent history of the show. Watch it here, staring at the 4:15 mark: