Whoopi Goldberg is under fire for appearing to defend Roman Polanski in a resurfaced clip from The View in 2009.
In an unearthed viral video from the ABC talk show, the Sister Act actress, 70, discussed the director’s 1977 arrest for allegedly drugging and raping a 13-year-old girl.
Polanski, 92, pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of unlawful sex with a minor but fled the US the night before he was due to be sentenced to France where he continued his career in film.
In the clip that has recently been recirculated on X, formerly known as Twitter, Goldberg expressed that she was unsure of the facts of the case during a heated clash with Sherri Shepherd.
‘I know it wasn’t rape, rape,’ Goldberg said on the show 17 years ago, as she waited for the right information to be passed to her via her earpiece.
‘I think it was something else, but I don’t believe that it was rape, rape,’ she continued. ‘And, when we get all of the information…’
Goldberg then added: ‘All I’m trying to get you to understand is we’re talking about what someone did and what they were charged with, we have to say what it actually was, not what we thought it was.’
Shepherd fought back and said: ‘He gave her quaaludes, he gave her champagne, she was drugged, she was 13 years old.’
Whoopi Goldberg appeared to defend Roman Polanski on The View in 2009
Polanski admitted to having unlawful sex with 13-year-old Samantha Geimer
Goldberg hit back and said: ‘They were having sex beforehand, Sherri.’
‘That’s what I’m saying, you’re 13 years old! She was still a child,’ Shepherd doubled down.
Polanski admitted to unlawful sex with a minor of 13-year-old Samantha Geimer in a plea bargain in 1977 to avoid a trial on more serious charges.
But he fled to France the following year, after serving 42 days in jail, when it appeared a judge was reconsidering his release. France does not extradite its citizens.
Geimer subsequently defended Polanski and was photographed with him in 2023.
In May 2024, Polanski was acquitted of defaming British actor Charlotte Lewis after she accused him of raping her when she was a teenager.
In 2019, he told Paris Match magazine that Lewis had lied about being sexually assaulted by him four decades ago.
The director has always denied wrongdoing.
Goldberg’s resurfaced Polanski remarks come as she made an awkward on-air confession about why her name appears in the Epstein files.
During the February 17 episode of The View, she announced that her name came up in an email exchange between Jeffrey Epstein and a redacted individual.
The message centered on an attempt to find a private plane for Goldberg to jet to Monaco to attend an event hosted by Julian Lennon’s charity, the White Feather Foundation.
As the email appeared on the screen, Goldberg pointedly said: ‘Now, in the name of transparency… my name is in the files.’
Reading the message aloud, she continued: ‘It says, “Whoopi needs a plane to get to Monaco… Julian Lennon’s charity is paying for it. They don’t want to charter so they’re looking for private owners. Here’s the info.”
‘And they give all the information and they’re saying, “Do you want to offer your G2?”‘
At this, co-host Sunny Hostin stressed that Epstein declined the offer in a separate message.
‘And it looks like they said no thanks,’ she pointed out.
