Whoopi Goldberg Calls Out Till Critic's Body Comments: 'That Was Not a Fat Suit, That Was Me'

Heidi Gutman/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images; Lynsey Weatherspoon / Orion Pictures

Whoopi Goldberg is speaking out about claims that she wore a fat suit in her role in the movie Till.

On Monday's episode of The View, the EGOT winner, 66 — who is earning rave reviews for her role as Alma Carthan, Emmett Till's grandmother, in the upcoming historical film — rejected one critic's recent assertion that she enhanced her appearance for the biopic by wearing a fat suit.

"There was a young lady who writes for one of the magazines, and she was distracted by my fat suit, in her review," Goldberg said, referencing a line that Entertainment Weekly reported was first published in The Daily Beast's review of Till. "I don't really care how you felt about the movie, but you should know that was not a fat suit, that was me."

Goldberg added that "it's okay to not be a fan of the movie" but that the entertainment journalist, whom she didn't name, should "leave people's looks out."

"Just comment on the acting and if you have a question, ask somebody," she said.

"I'm sure you didn't mean to be demeaning," Goldberg added. "We will hope that she just didn't know and now will know the next time you go to talk about somebody, you can talk about them as an actor. If you're not sure that's them in there, don't make blanket statements 'cause it makes you look like you don't know what you're doing."

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Goldberg's View co-hosts showed her support, including Sunny Hostin — who pointed to the "health challenges" that Goldberg has faced over the years.

"That was steroids," said Goldberg, a reference to the treatment she received when she missed a number of shows last season after being hospitalized for sciatica. "I assume you don't watch the show or you would have known that wasn't a fat suit."

"You were very sick, you were win the hospital," Hostin said. "For this reviewer, you have to do your research when you write. Research is important, receipts are important and I'm just so surprised that she would write this review knowing the health challenges that you've experienced and that thank God, have gotten over, most of them, over three years."

The Daily Beast has since deleted the quote, adding a disclaimer at the end of the story noting: "This story has been updated to reflect that Whoopi Goldberg says she was not wearing a fat suit."

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Till premiered on Saturday at the New York Film Festival.

The emotional movie tells the true story of Emmett Till's 1955 lynching and the fight for justice his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, later launched.

Directed by Chinonye Chukwu, the film stars Jalyn Hall as Emmett and Danielle Deadwyler as Mamie.

Goldberg, in addition to starring in the movie, produced the film. She said on Monday's View that she worked for years to get the financing for the project.

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"People have to learn the story of Emmett Till because systemic racism has very long tentacles. It grabs a lot of people and a lot of folks are being erased from history books now and that is what systemic racism leads to," Goldberg said. "Emmett Till is the beginning of telling people that it's not okay for people to decide that because they think you whistled, it's okay to kill you."

She went on to note that viewers won't see the violence of what happened to Emmett but will see the impact his death had on his loved ones. "It's an important film for families because if you're a mother, this could be your child. We're 67 years ago, this happened, and we're still in the midst of it. So that's why I think it's good it's happening now."

The View airs weekdays (at 11 a.m. ET) on ABC. Till hits select theaters on Oct. 14, ahead of a nationwide release on Oct. 28.