Whoopi Goldberg has criticised the Duchess of Sussex over comments she made earlier this week about her time on the game show Deal or No Deal.
During the most recent episode of her Archetypes podcast, Meghan Markle said she quit working as a model on the popular TV show because she would often leave work with a “pit in [her] stomach”.
“I didn’t like feeling forced to be all looks and little substance,” Meghan said. “And that’s how it felt for me at the time being reduced to this specific archetype: the word bimbo.”
Weighing in on the royal’s comments on Thursday’s episode of The View (20 October), Goldberg said Meghan’s remarks could make other women “feel bad”.
“OK, I just want to say that on that show, you had a suitcase, and they wanted to know, is this the deal you want, or this is not the deal you want,” Goldberg told the audience.
“I don’t know if the people who are sitting there are thinking about you like that. They’re thinking: ‘I want the money’. The objectification might be coming from you and how you felt about how these women were being portrayed.”
Goldberg was challenged by her co-host, Joy Behar, who asked: “Why is it that every game show has a guy running it... and some gorgeous woman turning letters or holding a box?”
“That’s a great point,” Goldberg replied. “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.”
In the days after Meghan’s podcast aired, her fellow Deal or No Deal costar, Claudia Jordan, said the show “never treated” the models like “bimbos”.
“Deal or No Deal never treated us like bimbos. We got so many opportunities because of that show,” Jordan said.
“For clarity – yes, getting a modelling 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.”
