Whoopi Goldberg put remarks made by Meghan Markle about the entertainment industry into perspective Wednesday after the Duchess of Sussex said she cut short her modeling gig on the game show "Deal or No Deal" because of how it made her feel.
"OK. I just want to say that on that show, you basically had a suitcase and they wanted to know 'Is this the deal you want or this is not the deal you want?," "The View" co-host quipped on Wednesday's episode, summarizing the duchess' job description on the program. "I don't know that the people who are sitting there are thinking about you like that. They're thinking, 'I want the money.'"
The duchess revealed on a recent episode of her "Archetypes" podcast that modeling with a money-bearing briefcase on the show made her feel like a "bimbo" who had "all looks and little substance."
Meghan, who married into the British royal family in 2018, said that she quit the program because she felt she was "so much more than what was being objectified on the stage."
Her remarks were picked apart across social media and on ABC's "The View," when Goldberg and some members of the panel took issue with how the former "Suits" actor dismissed her experience.
"The objectification might be coming from you and how you felt about how these women were being portrayed. And that's what you have to change," Goldberg said.
"When you're a performer, you take the gig. You take the gig. Sometimes, you're in a Bozo suit, sometimes you got a big nose, and this is just the way it is," she said. "We're not journalists. We're actors. We're trying to get to another place. And you [Meghan] left and that was your prerogative. I feel bad because I don't think people were looking at the girls like this."
The panelists pointed out that many game shows are hosted by men and utilize glamorous women in some spectacle-like manner, name-checking Vanna White, who shines alongside "Wheel of Fortune" host Pat Sajak. However, co-host Sunny Hostin applauded Meghan for walking away from something that made her feel bad.
"My point is, if you see it, and that's how you feel, just maybe you don't want to make the other women feel bad because maybe they're trying to make a living too," Goldberg added.
"Deal or No Deal," inspired by a Dutch game show, was hosted by Howie Mandel in the U.S. and aired on NBC from 2005 to 2019. Meghan appeared as a briefcase model in 34 episodes from 2006 to 2007, according to IMDb. She went on to star in the legal drama "Suits" before marrying Britain's Prince Harry. The two stepped away from their senior royal duties in 2020 and have since returned to California where they have a number of Hollywood-adjacent endeavors.
Claudia Jordan, who modeled briefcase No. 1 on the game show before starring in "The Real Housewives of Atlanta," also took issue with Meghan's summary of the gig.
"For clarity — yes getting a MODELING GIG on a game show isn't necessarily about your intellect BUT every show the executive producers picked 5 models with the most outgoing and fun personalities to place mics on who they KNEW would engage with the contestants," Jordan said Tuesday on her Instagram stories.
"Deal or No Deal NEVER treated us like bimbos. We got so many opportunities because of that show, Fremantle and @nbc," she said.
"That's the kind of opportunity that IS what you make it. If you just show up and don't engage — then you'll check and not get much out of it — but if you show up and seize your moments … Then there's no limits to what you can do with the opportunity."
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