Rachel Bilson Jokes She Owes Whoopi Goldberg a ‘Present’ for Publicity Over Podcast Conflict

Rachel Bilson thought it was “weird” that Whoopi Goldberg got so heated over her comments about men’s sex lives, but she’s not mad about the free publicity.

"I should be sending Whoopi a f--king Christmas present is what I should be doing!" Bilson, 42, joked while appearing on the “Bill Maher’s Club” podcast on Sunday, December 17.

Bilson noted that Goldberg’s comments “almost felt like shaming in a weird way,” explaining, "I normally don't respond when I get called out for things. But then again, it's like, ‘Alright, well, if you're talking about my podcast and I said something, let me respond. Because it's just going to bring more people to maybe hear the conversation in the first place.'"

In October, Bilson declared during an episode of her “Broad Ideas” podcast that she’d find it “a little weird” if a man in his 40s only had a few sexual partners. However, she was quick to acknowledge that “it all depends on the person” and it wasn’t “fair” for her to judge anyone’s sexual history.

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Goldberg, 67, later said on an episode of The View that she thought it was “very odd” Bilson was “concerned” at all about men’s sex lives.

“Listen, men, traditionally, were taught to have many sexual partners. That’s how it was. Men could go and do whatever they wanted to do, and women were not supposed to,” Goldberg said at the time. “Now, that has been shifting, and young women have been bitching about, you know, ‘Why are you telling me what I should be [doing?]’ Now, it’s happening [the other way around], and you’re mad. I don’t understand.”

Goldberg added, “If he’s happy with you and you’re having a good time, why are you bitching?”

Sunday’s podcast wasn’t the first time Bilson responded to Goldberg’s comments.

“I want to say that I’ve been a fan of Whoopi’s for a very long time, so when I saw the tagline that she criticized something I said, I of course was concerned,” she told Entertainment Weekly days after the October podcast episode went live. “I think it’s important to hear a whole conversation before casting your own judgment or criticism on something.”

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Bilson explained that her show is “a very safe open place to discuss anything,” and she doesn’t like to edit things out.

“I chose to keep the conversation as a whole in, because a lot of the time in life, you say something, and maybe you have a minute and you reflect on it,” she added. “The point I get across is that it doesn’t matter, and maybe in the past I would’ve looked at it [judgmentally], but I wouldn’t do that anymore. I made it clear that I don’t want to sound judgmental, it was important that that point get across, not what I said initially.”