Whoopi Goldberg has spoken out against critics who have slammed new TV shows House of the Dragon and The Rings of Power for having “woke” casting.
The View host let rip into the criticism on the fantastical drama series, featuring on HBO and Amazon Prime respectively, cruelly targeting its host of diverse actors.
House of the Dragon and The Rings of Power have both met huge success already in their early runs, breaking viewing and streaming records with the release of their premiere episodes.
Goldberg made a point of saying on Tuesday’s episode of The View that the massive hit shows “don’t exist in the real world” as she slammed the critics.
The presenter said: “There are critics who are saying, ‘They were too woke by adding diverse characters,’ - are you telling me black people can’t be fake people too?”
Goldberg continued: “I don’t know if there’s like a Hobbit club; I don’t know if there’s going to be protests. But people, what is wrong with y’all?”
Co-host Sunny Hostin responded: “Well their argument is that it betrays the source material.”
Goldberg exclaimed: “They haven’t read the source material.”
Both House of the Dragon and Rings of Power have made efforts in diverse casting, after their preceding titles failed to be inclusive with its actors, having had all-white main casts previously.
Sir Lenny Henry, who stars in The Rings of Power, earlier gave a short response to the harsh fantasy fans, saying: “God bless them.”
Hostin went on to praise actor Steve Toussaint (who plays Corlys Valeryaon in House of the Dragon) as she went on: “What I think is fascinating is dragons are ok – fire breathing dragons – and people with white hair – that are born like that when they’re little – and violet eyes…
“But the black people in it is just a bridge too far for these people.”
