Whoopi Goldberg balked at plans to remove cartoon skunk Pepe Le Pew from the new “Space Jam” film, saying, “I don’t know why you gotta erase everything.”
“I don’t get it,” Goldberg said on Tuesday’s broadcast of “The View,” arguing that it would have been just as easy to add a few lines about how the cartoon skunk had learned his lesson and didn’t behave that way anymore. (RELATED: Warnock Ducks Meghan McCain’s Court-Packing Question Twice — Then Whoopi Goldberg Cuts Her Off)
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Cohost Meghan McCain weighed in ahead of Goldberg on the most recent wave of cancellations, mentioning the removal of several Dr. Seuss books along with the decision to write Pepe Le Pew out of “Space Jam 2.”
“I’m also not a fan of censorship,” McCain said. “The question for a lot of people, and I hate making this political because I actually think there’s a lot more nuance than this being a left-right issue, is that it’s not just the cancelling of the Dr. Seuss, it’s Mr. Potatohead, it’s Pepe Le Pew.”
McCain went on to say there were some things that probably did need to be reevaluated, but that discussion should involve a lot more nuance than simply writing everything off.
“That’s so sad, I mean, I just heard they were taking Pepe Le Pew out of ‘Space Jam.’ And I think to myself couldn’t have y’all have just written a couple of lines, to say, you know, Pepe doesn’t do that anymore because he knows it’s not okay to jump on other skunks who may not be as interested in him as he’s interested —” Goldberg protested. “I don’t know why you have to erase everything. I don’t get it. I don’t understand.”
Joy Behar pushed back, arguing that it was only people on the right who cared about canceled cartoon characters and they only cared because it was a distraction from the fact that no Republicans had voted for the COVID-19 relief legislation pushed by President Joe Biden.
“That same party that voted 100% in lock-step to give tax breaks to rich people, they don’t want you to notice this because it’s not popular in this country to vote against COVID relief,” she said.
“It’s because 9% of the bill is actually going to COVID relief, out of all that, it’s completely filled with pork and it’s basically a left-wing fever dream of things that are pushed into this bill along with it,” McCain replied, pushing back against the narrative that Republicans opposed the bill because they did not want to help poorer Americans.
“I think that narrative and framing of it is not only wildly insulting, but it’s actually inaccurate. Over it today,” she concluded. “Over it today.”