There was a big discussion on The View yesterday about an article in the Sunday New York times that seemed to have a glaring factual error by stating that only seven black actors had won Academy Awards. The article was worded confusingly and wasn’t technically inaccurate in that they referred to an earlier paragraph about 2002, when Denzel Washington and Halle Berry took home Oscars, to say that only seven black actors had won prior to that. Then they named checked all the African American Oscar winners since, which didn’t include View panel member Whoopi Goldberg, who won her Oscar in 1990 for Best Supporting Actress, for Ghost. Whoopi said that it hurt her “terribly” not to be mentioned and she called the piece “sloppy journalism.” She even whipped out her Oscar to prove her point.
Whoopi Goldberg blasted the New York Times today for not mentioning her in a Sunday article about black Oscar winners.
“I am embarrassed to tell you it hurt me terribly,” Goldberg said Monday on “The View.” “When you win an Academy Award, that’s part of what you’ve done, your legacy. I will always be Academy Award-winner Whoopi Goldberg.”
Goldberg said she was “dismissed and erased” by the Times’ top film critics and described the piece as “sloppy journalism.” And to settle any doubts whether she’s an Academy Award-winner, Goldberg pulled out her Oscar for the 1990 film “Ghost.”
It’s true that the Times didn’t mention Goldberg. And clearly she was offended by the omission. But did the Times make a factual error?
The Times films critics described how Denzel Washington and Halle Berry won Oscars in 2002, before noting in the following paragraph that the Academy “had given statuettes to a total of seven black actors in the previous 73 years.”
It would be incorrect to claim that only seven black actors have ever won the award, which is apparently how Barbara Walters read the piece. But the Times is correct that only seven won the award before 2002.Either way, Elisabeth Hasselbeck is siding with her co-host and said Monday that she canceled her subscription.
A Times spokeswoman declined to respond to criticism on “The View.”
[From News.Yahoo.com via Gossip Rocks]
I agree with what Whoopi had to say about how it was a full 70 years between when Hattie McDaniel won (update: which is technically incorrect, it was 51 years, but she corrected herself later in the show) for Gone with The Wind and her win in 1990, and how that was significant. Out of the 13 black Oscar winners, only Whoopi, Louis Gossett Jr. (Best Supporting Actor, Officer and a Gentlemen, 1982), and Cuba Gooding Jr. (Best Supporting Actor, Jerry Maguire, 1996) weren’t mentioned. That’s just three people and they easily could have been incorporated into the article. In a story about how minorities get shafted by Hollywood and the Academy, the Times kind of proved their point.
Also I have to mention this story from 2008 where Whoopi Goldberg was upset when she was left out of a clips reel including Oscar hosts over the years. She hosted the Oscars four times, starting in 1994 and last in 2002. The Academy has a short memory and admitted that leaving her out was an oversight.
Team Whoopi
I think Whoopi may have overreacted a bit even though I do think the Times should apologize. They made a mistake and they are covering it up by saying they were only talking about winners in the 2000s. It was a great achievement but I wish they had given it to her for the Color Purple which was actually a brilliant movie and a stunning performance and not the embarassment of Ghost which was almost as good as The Bounty Hunter.
how was “Ghost” Oscar worthy??
Part of me wants to say shes being a diva and a drama queen but if it were me, I wouldnt want people to forget I had an oscar either. At the same time, the article wasnt technically inaccurate so…idk.
Just remembered Whoopi is an EGOT! This reminded me of that 30 rock episode.
sounds like that was done out of spite.
whoopi has never fit into the ‘hollywood-look’ mold, and she created her own lane for sure.
she has an incredible body of work that speaks for itself.
f*ck the NY Times. who cares what they think anyways.
if it weren’t for Thursdays ‘Home’ & ‘Style’ sections, i’d never pick it up at all. 😉
Yet you don’t hear Cuba Gooding Jr. complaining that they didn’t mention him. Her award was for best supporting actress and it was given over 2 decades ago.
I really wish Whoopi had never joined the view, I used to like her before she started opening her trap about Roman ‘rape rape’ Polanski and getting bent out of shape for every percieved snub.
She could have handled this with class and dignity, but dragging her dusty old Oscar and her over-inflated ego onto the view to criticize the NYT for omiting her screams textbook narcissist to me.
I stopped watching The View when this woman joined the crew….I just cant stand her.
At the time, the Ghost win was assumed to correct the glaring error of her loss for The Color Purple. That year, the Best Actress Oscar went to Geraldine Page for The Trip to Bountiful. The Color Purple, in fact, did not win a single Oscar, despite being nominated in 11 catagories. The movie also apparently directed itself as Steven Spielberg wasn’t even nominated.
Whoopi’s performance in Ghost was NOT Oscar worthy so to her, perhaps it has a Miss Congeniality feel to it. She DESERVED Best Actress but had to settle for Best Supporting Actress for a mediocre movie.
I’d be sensitive too.
Reality — I don’t care if it was 100 decades ago, at the time, it was a BIG deal. It had been 70 years since ANY African American had won. 70 years!!!! An average person’s life span had passed… It was huge. You don’t omit something like that.
well said, Reality.
Team Whoopi – Whether she “deserved” it or not, she won. She ought to be mentioned. Good for her to stick up for herself.
“In a story about how minorities get shafted by Hollywood and the Academy, the Times kind of proved their point.”
Regardless of personal preference for any actor/actress, they did indeed prove their point.
well, maybe they didn’t FORGET-forget…
…just like it wasn’t RAPE-rape, right Whoopi?
I am probably on the minority here, but I can not stand that loud mouth bitch. I would rather punch her in the throat than look at her.
Sure, it was an oversight by NYT..but talk about somebody’s inflated self-importance. Her claims about folks in China and Somalia knowing about her Oscar???! I do think they have more important concerns in those countries than dog and pony award shows.
Go Praise!
Well, she does have a point now (for a change).
Considering that the list is such a short one, they could have included everyone who is on that list. It’s not fair at all. I agree with Whoopi get your freaking facts straight.
True. She’s a deplorable woman , so the Times people just didn’t feel like throwing her name in their piece. Eh, it’s their piece.
Wait… when she won for a 1990 film, it had been 70 years since the last African American won? Then how is it that Louis Gossett Jr. won in 1982…?
I’m not being critical, I’m just very confused.
(And no, you aren’t as international a celebrity as you think you are. And Somalia?! Are you kidding me?)
Since we are speaking of factual errors, it was 51 years between between these Oscars not 70 and Whoopi did correct her comment later in the show. And the article was technically incorrect only six not seven African American Actors won an Oscar in the first 73 years. This article was poorly fact checked and written. The critics do seem to forget her a lot, and I can see why she would be angry. And as far as Ghost being a makeup for the Color Purple. There are so many examples of that the academy does that a lot.
she is just a vile, nasty woman! ick! cannot stand her.
In general, she and the others omitted should have been mentioned by name, especially given the timeframe of WG’s win. But if they’re complaining about her not being mentioned in the list of names, that was clearly people who won after Denzel/Halle/2002.
I don’t think there are any factual errors, it’s just not a well written piece. Just because BabaWawa has poor reading comprehension doesn’t mean NYT is factually wrong, but the article should have been better written and mentioned all winners by name.
It was 70 years since a black female had won an Oscar, not since a black person had won an Oscar. Here’s the list of Oscar winners:
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Where_can_you_find_a_list_of_black_oscar_winners
You know I was all set to be team Whoopi. But her inflated sense of self has soured me on her to the point that I just want her to eat a large bowl of stfu stew.
Hattie won her award in 1939 so not 70 years before Whoopi’s win and there were African American winners in between those two wins…so not sure what her point was there… I do get her frustration though and there are a disappointing lack of roles for african americans but she should have made that her issue and not tried to make it all about herself.
no way:
…And the article was technically incorrect only six not seven African American Actors won an Oscar in the first 73 years.
—————————————–
I’m guessing the 7 includes Denzel Washington’s first win in a supporting category for “Glory” and second for “Training Day”.
So while only 6 ppl won in that time frame, 1 of them won twice.
They forgot her in a Oscar tribute thing a few years ago.
Team W
@choose me
I agree with you. Its a common disease in Hollywood. She’s right, but she’s a self important ass.
sorry, but 1939 to 1990 isn’t 70 years. It’s 51. Still a long time, but let’s not forget how to add and subtract here.
Ugh I don’t know how I missed the seventy years thing. I was thinking it’s seventy years plus a couple since then and now. I’ll just edit that part, sorry about that and thanks for pointing it out.
The story wasn’t about past Black Oscar Winner, it was about the lack of any Black nominees this year.
I believe Whoopi’s point was, she was the first female since Hattie McDaniel to win a Oscar. And that in itself was a big deal when Whoopi won.
The NY Times is allegedly a legit news source/newspaper.
Where the whole goal is to report accurate news.
With the internet at any writers fingers, they should have proof the list of winners. A quick email to the Academy would have been answered. With the correct names.
Once upon a time there was a golden rule to have sourced any piece you wrote, 3 times.
To make sure that the integrity of the paper would never be question. That they were interested in reporting facts. Not some random ego piece filled with gross inaccuracies.
But obviously all that has been tossed out the window. And newspapers are only interested in filling their pages with random sourced non sense.
So ultimately the NY Times is another tabloid. Who cares about the facts when you can write fiction all day with no effort. 🙂
Pfffttt.. don’t they know about Whoopi’s EGOT?
They didn’t omit or forget her, she’s one of the 7 who won prior to 2002, but they just didn’t mention her by name, just like Lou & Cuba. Right?
I think that she’s right to complain. The omission is so glaring, as to be deliberate. Shame on the Times. What’s their beef?
As an actor, an Oscar is the ultimate ultimate dream, and to achieve that dream is so unbelievably major. To be one of so few, and not mentioned would be hurtful. Even if you are nominated you are forever known as Academy Award nominee so and so. They should have mentioned them all and Whoopi’s win was a huge deal because it had been so long since any other black actor had won. I understand her feelings being hurt by this.
We all forgot – or tried to. She isnt talented and never deserved an Oscar for her role in Ghost – r u kidding me?!!!
So it’s because of a lack of Black nominees this year? I wasn’t aware people were supposed to be automatically nominated because of what colour they happen to be.
That aside, there are very few Black Oscar nominees and winners simply because they are underrepresented in cinema overall – Hollywood in particular – and they simply aren’t given the parts. That’s the problem, which isn’t going to be alleviated by nominating Black actors because they’re Black. That is just insulting. At least I hope they would find it so, since it really amounts to “tokenism.”
You may not have heard Cuba and Lou (one of my fav actors) complain because neither of them have a daily forum in which to do so. It could be they didn’t read the NYTimes and maybe they don’t care.
Winning an Oscar is huge. Why leave out 3 actors? Seems intentional to me.
not a fan of whoopi since the “rape rape” thing but she’s definitely in the right on this one.
I think it was approx two years ago that they shunned her at the Oscars when they passed video footage of all the winners & she was obviously missing & she talked about it the next day on The View. I guess she’s just sick of being left out. I would be upset but at the same time I feel like, “what are you bitching about”? You won it. No one can take that away from you not even an omission in the New York Times.
Whoopi is a woman with very definite (often unpopular) perspectives and isn’t afraid to raise her voice and use her celebrity to express them. I also think to a degree she’s a devil’s advocate and people just don’t get it (Michael Vick thing, the Polanski thing). She certainly provokes dialogue but she’s got to expect backsplash from that and it’s unreasonable for her not to.
That being said, the women comics have it hard, they always have. They’re smart and in-your-face because they have to be and I love each and every one of them for it.
Being Black, a female comic and a ‘legitimized’ actor who expects (or at least certainly hopes) others take your career and achievements seriously, I don’t think, is a lot to ask.
Sure she’s hurt. Who wouldn’t be. She’s asking for acknowledgment, not a frigging parade.
Maybe the Times just think she’s a nasty big-mouthed, rape-approving SKANK and decided to leave her out on purpose.
Good for them! Editorial Privelege.
goo whoopi! she has a right to be angry, i always love whoopi! 😀
@ Str8Shooter, you can talk all you want about privilege as soon as you know how to spell it. Particularly when you are using it within the literary context. Or just leave your caps lock on. Whatevs.
i saw the NYT article online a few days ago, and frankly, i don’t even know why it was a story. i might say that the tone of the piece sounded bigoted towards white people, actually, and threw in some quotes that i felt were really not necessary. film is art. it is not regulated by a quota according to melanin pigment. it was a stupid article, and i am surprised it was even published.
and whoopi…. i liked her once in the 80’s. since then…..?
don’t watch the view, and don’t give a crap about her rants.