Whoopi Goldberg Cites ‘American Idol’ As The “Beginning Of The Downfall Of Society”
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Whoopi Goldberg is no stranger to voicing her opinions about what’s happening in society. The 67-year-old co-host of The View most recently spoke out against the classic reality show American Idol, as she deemed it the “beginning of the downfall of society.”
While in conversation about the recent Anna Nicole Smith documentary, You Don’t Know Me, Goldberg commented on America’s obsession with “judging others.”
“I think, you know, that we as a society love to watch stuff, to judge folks. I’ve always thought that the beginning of the downfall of society was with… what’s the name of that show?” she asked before a producer responded, “That’s ABC’s American Idol.”
“It was not always on ABC. When it began, it was on another network,” Goldberg added. “Once we gave people the ability to judge other people, I think we ran amok… They invite the public to decide who that person was. It began us in a cycle.”
Immediately The View‘s producers and other co-host tried to flip Goldberg’s thoughts to positive ones. However, Goldberg said, “When I was watching it, ABC didn’t have it. It was a different show. It’s a very different show. The judges are different… ABC knows that I feel like this. I’ve told them. It has nothing to do with them. It has to do with the show.”
Idol started on Fox in 2002 with judges Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson. The hit show quickly became an American favorite, as contestants went through a series of singing challenges and sometimes faced harsh critique from Cowell. Since that time, the show has been through a variety of other celebrity judges including Katy Perry, Lionel Richie, Nicki Minaj and more.
Recently, former American Idol season 18 winner Samantha “Just Sam” Diaz, opened up about how her life has been since winning the competition in 2020. Diaz won the at-home version of the series during the pandemic and recently revealed to her Instagram following that she’s back in NYC singing in the subways.
“Back in 2021, I was super embarrassed to be going back to the trains. I didn’t want people to know that I legit needed the money and I didn’t want people to know that it wasn’t optional,” Diaz wrote on Instagram, according to The Sun. “I was disappointed in myself for allowing myself to fall so low after winning Idol, but then I had to take it easy on me and remember that I started my journey with Idol at 20 years old. Not even knowing anything about Hollywood or the music industry.”
Without revealing exactly what caused her to be in her current financial state, she said, “We didn’t know what to do with the win, especially being that we had absolutely no help.”
Diaz did sign to Hollywood Records but never put out a song. “There are people who have had more success than me and good for them I’m happy for them, but I am not them. I don’t like my situation, but it won’t be this forever.”
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