Multi-millionaire TV star, 69, sparks outrage with ‘offensive’ comparison as Iranian dissidents slam her ‘astonishing’ ignorance
WHOOPI Goldberg has sparked a firestorm of outrage after claiming Black people in America face the same conditions as women living under Iran’s murderous theocratic regime.
The 69-year-old multi-millionaire — who earns a reported $8 million a year — made the jaw-dropping comparison during a heated exchange on The View that left viewers stunned and Iranian dissidents furious.
In an extraordinary on-air clash, Goldberg insisted that life for Black Americans is “the same” as for Iranians who face execution for showing their hair or being gay — despite her co-host desperately trying to explain the brutal realities of the Islamic Republic.
And here’s what’s truly staggering: the Oscar-winning actress made these comments whilst sitting on national television, speaking freely, wearing whatever she wants — freedoms that would see her imprisoned or worse in Tehran.
‘IT IS THE SAME’
The explosive confrontation erupted during Wednesday’s episode when co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin highlighted Iran’s horrific human rights abuses, including executions of LGBTQ+ individuals and imprisonment of women for violating strict dress codes.
But Goldberg cut her off with a stunning interjection: “Let’s not do that, because if we start with that, we have been known in this country to tie gay folks to the car. Listen, I’m sorry, they used to just keep hanging Black people.”
When Griffin, 36, firmly rejected the comparison, stating “In the year 2025 in the United States, it is nothing like if I step foot wearing this outfit into Iran right now,” Goldberg doubled down.
“It is the same,” she insisted.
Griffin desperately tried to explain the stark differences: “I can’t have my hair showing, I can’t wear a skirt, I can’t have my arms out.”
But Goldberg wouldn’t budge. When Griffin repeated that living in the US in 2025 was “very different” than living in Iran, Goldberg shot back: “Not if you’re Black.
IRANIAN DISSIDENTS SLAM ‘OFFENSIVE’ REMARKS
Iranian-Americans who fled the brutal regime have condemned Goldberg’s comments as deeply offensive and ignorant of the horrors faced by millions under the Ayatollahs.
Dr. Sheila Nazarian, a prominent plastic surgeon and Iranian-American human rights advocate whose family fled Iran in 1985 when she was six after her father was put on a government kill list, didn’t mince words.
Whoopi Goldberg’s comparison between being Black in America and living under Iran’s authoritarian regime is deeply misguided and dismisses the brutal realities faced by millions of Iranians,” Dr. Nazarian told Fox News Digital.
While racism is a serious and ongoing challenge in the U.S., comparing this to life under a totalitarian theocracy like Iran is not only inaccurate – it’s offensive to those who suffer daily under that regime.
She added: “In Iran, the government controls nearly every aspect of life. People can be imprisoned, tortured, raped or even executed for peaceful protests, for criticizing the regime, or simply expressing their opinions online.
‘ASTONISHING’ IGNORANCE
Iranian-American journalist Lisa Daftari was equally scathing about Goldberg’s comparison, calling it “astonishing”.
It’s astonishing that Whoopi Goldberg would even suggest that life for Black Americans is somehow equivalent to living under the rule of the Ayatollah in Iran,” Daftari told Fox News Digital.
“The very fact that she, as a woman — and a woman of color — has a platform where she can speak freely, express dissenting views, and appear uncovered on national television is proof of the immense freedoms she enjoys.”
The journalist’s point cuts to the heart of the controversy: Goldberg made these claims whilst enjoying freedoms that would be unthinkable for women in Iran.
SOCIAL MEDIA ERUPTS
The backlash was swift and furious, with viewers taking to social media to express their disbelief at Goldberg’s comments.
“Whoopi Goldberg has lost her mind. Women are raped, beaten and killed in Iran for showing their hair and not wearing hijab. Whoopi claims that is how blacks are treated in the U.S. The View should be taken off the air, ABC should lose their license,” one outraged viewer wrote.
Another posted: “What the f-ck did I just hear? Whoopi Goldberg on The View (of all shows) just said that it’s no different living in Iran than the U.S. The Islamic Republic has arrested over 30,642 women since 2022 for not wearing hijabs. They’ve killed, raped, and tortured many of them.”
Many called for Goldberg to be removed from the show, with one user writing: “Sure, Whoopi, being black in America in 2025 is just like being a woman in Iran in 2025. To quote Jack Nicholson in ‘As Good as It Gets’: ‘Sell crazy someplace else.'”
VOTING RIGHTS CONFUSION
In a bizarre attempt to defend her position, Goldberg pointed to historical voting rights, stating “we got the vote in 1965,” referring to when Black Americans gained full voting rights.
Griffin quickly shut down this comparison: “They don’t have free and fair elections in Iran! It’s not even the same universe.”
Co-host Sara Haines reminded Goldberg that women in Iran cannot leave their house “without an escort,” but Goldberg maintained that “not everybody feels that way” about America being better than Iran.
MAHSA AMINI’S GHOST
The timing of Goldberg’s comments is particularly tone-deaf given recent events in Iran. In 2022, Iran’s morality police were accused of murdering Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman, for not wearing a hijab properly in public.
Her death sparked nationwide protests that were brutally suppressed, with hundreds killed and thousands imprisoned. Women who dared to remove their headscarves faced beatings, imprisonment, and worse.
This is the regime Goldberg claims is comparable to life in America.
$8 MILLION VICTIM?
What makes Goldberg’s comparison even more galling is her own success story. As critics pointed out, she earns a reported $8 million annually from ABC News — hardly the salary of someone living under brutal oppression.
Women in Iran are beaten, raped, and killed for showing their hair. So here’s Whoopi Goldberg equating her life as a multimillionaire celebrity in America to that,” one X user noted pointedly.
BILL MAHER WEIGHS IN
The controversy reached new heights when Bill Maher addressed the comments on his show “Real Time” on Friday, joking that Democrats need to “do something about The View.”
Rep. Wesley Hunt, R-Texas, who appeared on the show, shot down Whoopi’s assessment of life in America for Black people, noting the success he’s found in the United States as a Black man.
NOT HER FIRST CONTROVERSY
This isn’t the first time Goldberg has faced backlash for controversial comments. In 2022, she was suspended from The View following remarks about the Holocaust that many found offensive, when she claimed the genocide of six million Jews wasn’t “about race” but rather “man’s inhumanity to other man.
THE BOTTOM LINE
As one Iranian-American put it: “In Iran, you can be jailed, tortured, or executed for speaking out. Women are beaten for showing hair. Protesters are gunned down in the street.”
Meanwhile, Goldberg sits comfortably in her chair on national television, earning millions, speaking freely, wearing whatever she chooses — and claiming she has it just as bad.
Perhaps it’s time for the 69-year-old star to take a trip to Tehran and test her theory. Something tells us she’d quickly discover just how wrong she is.
But don’t hold your breath — after all, she’d have to cover her hair first.
