Whoopi Goldberg has defended the star-studded Oscars audience for giving Will Smith a standing ovation after he smacked Chris Rock — saying that to call Hollywood types hypocritical “elites” is akin to racism.
The actress — who is back on “The View” after her suspension for saying the Holocaust was “not about race” — came to the defense Thursday of her celebrity colleagues after they dismissed Smith’s onstage slap, with her shrugging, “Stuff happens.”
Guest “View” co-host Tara Setmayer had been outraged by the ritzy audience’s reaction, insisting there needs to be “a lot of self-reflection in Hollywood.
“They gave [Smith] a standing ovation,” she noted.
“Which goes back to why some people feel like Hollywood elites are a bunch of hypocrites,” added the show’s lone conservative voice.
Goldberg — who serves as the governor of the Academy’s Actors branch and won her own Oscar in 1991 as Best Supporting Actress for the flick “Ghost” — quickly cut off her fellow host.
“I’m sorry, as one of those people, I’ve got to stop you,” Goldberg snapped.
“I just want to stop with all this ‘elite’ stuff, because a lot of us work for a living,” she said, insisting that while “some are making millions of dollars,” that’s “not everybody” in the movie industry.
“And it really pisses me off when people start to talk about people who work in Hollywood, not just actors, but all the other folks. … So, please, when you’re talking about actors, be specific.
“If you’re pissed off about somebody or how they act, don’t put it on all of us — because that’s like saying all black people like chicken,” she said, comparing it to a crude racial trope.
Goldberg suggested that the ovation, which included many of the biggest names in Hollywood, stemmed from the fact that “people just got up and did dumb stuff.”
“I wasn’t there, but I give the benefit of the doubt because I’ve been in these situations,” she said defensively.
Smith jumped up from his seat and rushed Rock, a presenter, on stage at the awards show Sunday after the comedian cracked a joke about the “Men in Black” superstar’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith’s baldness, which is caused by alopecia.
Smith, who belted a stunned Rock in the face, received a standing ovation minutes later while accepting the best actor Oscar for the tennis drama “King Richard.”
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