‘Real Housewife’ Salahi accuses Whoopi Goldberg of ‘outrageous abuse’

Fight! Michaele Salahi, the alleged White House party crasher who's now featured on Bravo's "Real Housewives of D.C.," has launched a feud with "View" co-host Whoopi Goldberg. Salahi told "Today" show hosts Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb that Goldberg "abused" Salahi during a Wednesday appearance on "The View."

On the Wednesday broadcast, Goldberg can be seen walking onto the set, putting her hand on Salahi's arm and saying something (inaudible to the audience). Goldberg was apparently exasperated with Salahi for wandering off-topic, and wanted her to return to the subject of White House party crashing.

After the taping, Salahi and her husband, Tareq, accused Goldberg of "outrageous abuse" and blasted the comedian-actress on their Facebook page and elsewhere, The Daily Beast reports.

[Flashback photos: Salahi crashes the White House in a red sari]

ABC, which airs "The View," immediately rushed to Goldberg's defense. "The accusation was completely unfounded and erroneous," the network said in a statement, citing the show footage. Salahi is seen arguing with another Real Housewife about a wine-throwing incident when Goldberg emerges from offstage to intervene. Watch:

But in her later "Today" interview, Michaele Salahi said that Goldberg's "abuse" occurred after the show, when Goldberg pursued the dispute in the dressing room at "The View." Watch:

In her version of the incident, Salahi said that Goldberg entered the dressing room saying, "eff this and eff that. Did you say I effin' hit you?" Salahi added that she corrected Goldberg at that time, saying she never accused the actress of "hitting."

That indignity compounded, in Michaele's view, the show's already improper effort to spin the White House incident against the Salahis. The Salahis maintain that government official Michelle Jones invited them to attend the November 2009 state dinner and that the "crasher" label is both inaccurate and offensive.

*Update: Goldberg on The View today addressed the controversy. She admitted she was angry about the "hitting" accusation and made no apologies for her language. Goldberg did accuse Tareq Salahi of escalating the situation by taking pictures of the actress during the argument.

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