Whoopi Goldberg walks off The View set during foot fetish conversation

Whoopi Goldberg walked off the set of The View during an awkward conversation concerning foot fetishes.

During an episode of the ABC talk show that aired on 9 January, the hosts discussed the Guardian advice column, in which an anonymous husband asked for help after his wife stopped allowing him to give her foot massages when he admitted to her he had a fetish.

“You have to entertain your partner’s kink, within reason,” co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin spoke up, prompting the 68-year-old Sister Act star to stand up and temporarily walk off the set. As she left the stage, she said: “Excuse me for a second. Keep talking!”

“Whoopi has left the building,” Farah Griffin quipped. Whoopi seemingly handed something off to someone off-screen - presumably a staff member - however, cameras didn’t capture what exactly she was giving them. During her absence, the panelists continued to delve into a nuanced discussion on kinks and fetishes.

“You know, not to brag, but my feet have created foot fetishes out there, so I can’t really respond to this because I feel that I’m responsible for the fetishes,” longtime co-host Joy Behar jokingly boasted about her feet.

When Goldberg returned, Behar asked the moderator why she walked off, but the Colour Purple actor joked: “I was so enamored by what you were saying that I felt that I needed to take a breath so I could just get myself together, so I could come back to the table! So, I just got up and walked away and just got myself together!”

“This is what my feet do to people,” Behar replied, to which Goldberg added: “This is what this conversation does to people. It makes them get up and move.” She concluded: “I don’t care ’cause my feet are huge, and no one wants to touch them!”

Over the years, fans have noticed that Goldberg tends to leave the table whenever the topic at hand doesn’t interest her. The Ghost star left the stage in a July 2023 episode when a heated debate erupted between the co-hosts about Miranda Lambert’s decision to stop a concert and reprimand fans for taking selfies. A visibly irritated Goldberg brought up the hot-button topic to her fellow panelists, rolling her eyes and sighing as she provided them the context of the story.

At the time, Goldberg took the country star’s side, saying that fans should have “a little respect” during a performance. But co-host Sunny Hostin remarked that she should be able to take as many selfies as she pleases if she has to pay $800 out of her pocket for tickets. Hostin’s response annoyed Goldberg so much that she got up and left, walking towards the audience and announcing, “I’m leaving, y’all!” The EGOT winner proceeded to deliberately take selfies with audience members to prove her point.