Goldberg and 'The View' weigh in on WLBT Barbie Bassett issue. Here's what they said

Whoopi Goldberg is the latest celebrity to weigh in on the topic of WLBT anchor Barbie Bassett being removed from the WLBT staff website listing and taken off the air after Bassett quoted a Snoop Dogg saying in a live segment March 8.

Goldberg introduced the topic on “The View” daytime talk show episode Monday. 'Charlamagne tha God' also discussed the issue on his nationally syndicated radio show this week.

“Mississippi news anchor and meteorologist Barbie Bassett has been off the air since she repeated a lyric by Snoop Dogg that used his term for the N word,” Goldberg said, adding that Bassett has been with WLBT for 23 years, and her absence has led to speculation that Bassett has been fired.

WLBT's Bassett not on air:WLBT anchor Barbie Bassett not seen on air since March 8. Station has no comment on status

Radio host discusses WLBT's Bassett:'Charlamagne tha God' defends WLBT anchor Barbie Bassett who has not been on air since quoting Snoop Dogg

WLBT Vice President and General Manager Ted Fortenberry has declined to comment on the issue saying it is a personnel matter and Bassett has not responded to requests for comment.

“Now, I don't know why she's been fired, but I do know that people have to understand that sometimes stuff comes out of folks' mouths, and you might want to start with, ‘Hey, maybe that wasn't the smartest thing to say,’ as opposed to you're out. That's just me.”

Other members of the panel, including lawyer Sunny Hostin, television host Sara Haines and television personality Ana Navarro, admitted they also did not know the meaning of the offensive term in the Snoop Dogg lyric “Fo’ shizzle my [racial epithet]” that Bassett used on the air in a March 8 segment on Snoop Dogg’s latest wine offering.

Hostin noted that in October, Bassett made an on-air racially insensitive reference to a reporter’s grandmother for which she later apologized on air.

“Now I'm thinking maybe she needs some sensitivity classes,” Hostin said.

Goldberg added, “Maybe so. I don't know if firing her is going to help.”

Goldberg and other panel members said they believe Bassett, and others who make similar on-air live gaffs, should be given an opportunity to clarify why they said what they said, including just admitting, they did not know what they said was offensive.

Goldberg admitted that she had made culturally incentive comments on air as well for which she had to apologize and launched into the following remarks to close out the segment:

“There are too many things,” Goldberg said. “Y'all need to make a book of stuff that no one can say there has to be a bunch of stuff no one could ever say … ever, ever, ever, include everything include everything, because I tell you, the things that change. You can say this but you can't say that but next week, you might not be able to say this. It's hard to keep up. It's hard to keep up and if you're a person of a certain age, this stuff we do and we say. You know what I'm saying and we have no idea until somebody says, ‘Oh, by the way.’

“You should know that just because we're on television, wherever we are, whoever we're talking about, just because we're on television, doesn't mean we know everything. We don't know everything you're not supposed to do. And if there's something someone says if you're not going to give them the opportunity to explain why they said it, at least give them the grace of saying, ‘You know what? I've just been informed that I should not have done that’ as opposed to, ‘You're out’ because you saying, ‘You're out' means you don't want to hear what people have to say or the mistakes that they might have made that could help somebody else not make that mistake.”

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Whoopi Goldberg, 'The View' weigh in on WLBT Barbie Bassett issue