If you know our girl Whoopi Goldberg, you know she is not one to mince words. The longstanding lead host of The View recently addressed the haters who can’t seem to wrap their minds around diversifying a cast of real people playing the fictional creatures and characters throughout Amazon’s “Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” and HBO’s “House of the Dragon.”
“Are you telling me Black people can’t be fake people, too?” Goldberg asked. “I don’t know if there’s a hobbit club. I don’t know if there are going to be protests. But people, what is wrong with y’all?”
Some stupid fans, I mean super fans have been voicing their complaints about featuring a diverse cast in the new series. They’ve even gone as far as to “review bomb” the shows on sites like Rotten Tomatoes. The “House of the Dragon” actor Steve Toussaint has also shared that he’s faced racist abuse when his casting was announced.
“They are happy with a dragon flying. They’re happy with white hair and violet-colored eyes, but a rich Black guy? That’s beyond the pale,” the actor shared with Men’s Health Magazine in August.
“What has been wonderful is for every toxic person that has somehow found their way into my timeline, there have been so many others who have been so supportive and been like, ‘Oh my god, I can’t wait, this is going to be great!’” Toussaint later told Variety. “Even when we were doing certain scenes, there would be supporting artists who would come up and go, ‘It’s great to have this representation.’”
So why are these people so upset over gremlins, goblins, and dragons? Well that’s exactly what Whoopi would like to know. During the live recording, she also likened the backlash to the criticism received after it was announced that actress and singer Halley Bailey would be portraying Ariel in the live-action remake of The Little Mermaid.
“There are mermaids of every ilk. And you know why there can be? Because it’s the world that we would like to see better,” Goldberg said. “We would like to see as many people represented in fantasy as exist.”
Turns out, there’s no rest for the weary, and there is no cure for racist trolls…or hobbits for that matter. You can watch the full clip here.