*The 26th season premiere of “The View” kicked off with co-host Whoopi Goldberg calling out the racist criticism of HBO’s “House of the Dragon” and Amazon’s “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.”
Both fantasy series have been dubbed “WOKE” by anti-Black racists and outlets like CNN because the cast features a few non-white characters.
“Are you telling me Black people can’t be fake people too? Is that what you’re telling me?” Whoopi said. “What is wrong with y’all?”
Goldberg then mentioned the inevitable backlash that Disney’s live-action remake of “The Little Mermaid” will receive because it stars Halle Bailey.
“Y’all are gonna lose your minds when you see the new Ariel. ‘Cause you know — and I don’t want to upset any mermaids who are watching the show, you know, because I know there are many communities of mermaids of various colors!” Whoopi said, as reported by The Wrap.
READ MORE: ‘House of the Dragon’ Star Steve Toussaint Taunted with Racial Harassment
“And when I say ‘of various colors,’ I’m not playing. There are violet mermaids, there are pink mermaids, there are black mermaids, there are Latina mermaids, 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,” she added.
“All of y’all who have problems because there are Black hobbits? Get a job!” she said. “Get a job! Go find yourself, because you are focused on the wrong stuff.”
Whoopi’s comments come a few weeks after “House of the Dragon’ star Steve Toussaint, the only main Black character on the new HBO series, reacted to the racist harassment he’s receiving.
Toussaint plays Lord Corlys Velaryon a.k.a. “The Sea Snake” in the series, and avid lovers of “Game of Thrones” assumed the character would be depicted as white because his Valyrian ancestors are fair-skinned people with white-blond hair.
As we reported previously, “House of the Dragon” is set 200 years before the events in “Game of Thrones,” and centers on “the height of the Targaryen empire in Westeros—specifically, chronicling what happened before and during the Dance of the Dragons, a destructive civil war between the Targaryens as they vied for the Iron Throne,” per Complex.
George R. R. Martin’s book “Fire & Blood” serves as the basis for the new series. Lord Corlys is not described as white in the novel, but that’s not stopping the fanatics from targeting Toussaint with racial harassment.
“It seems to be very hard for people to swallow,” Toussaint said in an interview with Men’s Health. “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.”
Toussaint also pointed out that screen adaptations of Martin’s book series don’t precisely match character descriptions.
“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 added. “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.’”
Watch “The View’s” discussion about the two fantasy shows below.
We Publish News 24/7. Don’t Miss A Story. Click HERE to SUBSCRIBE to Our Newsletter Now!
