Whoopi Goldberg criticized the decision to take a white Mississippi newscaster off the air after she quoted Snoop Dogg’s lyrics during a broadcast.
Barbie Bassett, a popular host and WLBT’s first chief meteorologist, has not been seen on the NBC affiliate station since March 8 after repeating famous Snoop slang: “Fo s*****e, my n****e”. .’
Speaking on The View, Whoopi graced the newscaster, while also taking a dig at political correctness in general, saying “just because we’re on TV, doesn’t mean we know everything.”
Bassett’s comment came during a segment about Snoop Dogg’s wine company, Cali Wine Collection, and the launch of its Snoop Cali Blanc variety.
The racial epithet he referred to is one for black people, but Whoopi is now among a growing number of people, including Charlamagne The God, defending Bassett.
Whoopi Goldberg criticized the decision to take a white Mississippi newscaster off the air after she quoted Snoop Dogg’s lyrics during a broadcast, and came to the defense of all TV hosts who sometimes “don’t know everything.”
Morning news anchor Barbie Bassett (center) is seen with her co-anchors during the controversial on-air broadcast. Bassett has not been seen on the air since the March 8 incident after making the racially insensitive comment.
Whoopi told The View: ‘There has to be a book of things that no one could say, ever, ever, ever. Include all. Things that change, you can say this, but you can’t say that, but next week you might not be able to say this, it’s hard to keep up.
It’s hard to keep up. And if you’re a person of a certain age, there are things we do and say.
We don’t know everything you’re not supposed to do. And if there’s something someone says, if you’re not going to give them a chance to explain why they said it, at least give them the grace to say “you know what, I just got informed that I shouldn’t have done that” instead of “you’re out”.
“Because saying ‘you’re out’ means you don’t want to hear what people have to say or the mistakes they might have made that might have helped someone else not make that mistake.”
Goldberg also complained that TV stations “never let you” go back and clarify your controversial statements, perhaps in reference to his own on-screen missteps.
The View host was previously suspended from the show for saying “The Holocaust is not about race” and also filmed an apology for using the word “f****d”, a term considered derogatory towards people of Roma descent.
The phrase is one that rapper Snoop Dogg uses a lot in his music.
The former beauty pageant queen (right) had been cited in October 2022 for making a racially insensitive comment to a fellow co-host for which she apologized late.
Bassett is seen speaking to viewers on March 8, in what appears to be his last broadcast.
Barbie Bassett’s latest spat comes just months after she referred to her co-host, Cameron Poe’s grandmother, as “grandmother,” a term African-American slaves used for their grandmothers. Poe is black.
He apologized to viewers and his co-workers for the offensive comment during the October 2022 broadcast, calling it “insensitive and hurtful” and said he would participate in training to “better understand our history and our people.”
After the firestorm, WLBT Vice President and General Manager Ted Fortenberry released a statement on social media: “As I’m sure you can understand, WLBT is unable to comment on personnel matters.”
Discussing Bassett’s latest incident with DJ Envy, Charlamagne The God recently also came to her defense: ‘She can’t say, ‘Fuck you, my nigga?’
Bassett said: ‘Fo s*****e, my n****e’, while promoting Cali Wine Collection and the launch of its Snoop Cali Blanc variety
‘Oh, I guess because n****e is a derivative of the N word. I mean that in context. I didn’t mean… I’m not using that word.
The word is sometimes used as slang for the word n and is considered offensive.
But DJ Envy said he didn’t think its use was ‘dismissable’, and Charlamagne chimed in: ‘I might not even know what ‘N***e’ means, yo.
‘I’m not like, come on, we’ve got to like each other, tall man. That’s no reason to fire that woman.
‘That’s the thing with hip hop, man. Hip-hop is so big and mainstream and it’s like, who can consume it and who can’t?
‘You know what I mean? Who can repeat the jargon and who can’t? She could be old. You probably have no idea that n****e is a derivative of the N word.’
DJ Envy was also quick to defend Bassett, adding that she was probably a “Snoop Dogg fan.”