Whoopi Goldberg has addressed the criticism that was directed toward her body in the new Emmett Till biopic in which she starred.
The actress who won an Oscar responded to a movie review of director Chinonye Chukwu’s latest project, Till, in which she appears as Alma Carthan, the grandmother of the titular subject. The reviewer had written about the actress’s “distracting fat suit” after the film premiere at the New York Film Festival. Till was directed by Chinonye Chukwu.
“There was a young lady who writes for one of the magazines, and she was distracted by my fat suit, in her review,” Goldberg appeared to be making a reference to a line that EW can confirm has been removed from The Daily Beast’s review of the film when she said this at the beginning of Monday’s episode of The View. “I don’t really care how you felt about the movie, but you should know that was not a fat suit, that was me…. I assume you don’t watch the show, or you would know that was not a fat suit.”
The review “has been updated to reflect that Whoopi Goldberg says she was not wearing a fat suit,” according to an editor’s note in the story. EW has reached out to the reviewer for comment.
Goldberg went on to say that she believed it was “okay to not be a fan of a movie,” but she strongly urged the author to “leave people’s looks out” of the criticism of the film. “Just comment on the acting, and if you have a question, ask somebody. I’m sure you didn’t mean to be demeaning,” she said.
Sunny Hostin, one of the other panelists on The View, reacted with surprise when she heard the line and brought up the fact that Goldberg has publicly discussed “health challenges” that she has “gotten over” in the past few years.
“We will hope that she just didn’t know, and now she’ll know the next time you go to talk about somebody, you talk about them as an actor,” Goldberg finished. “If you’re not sure if that’s them in there, don’t make blanket statements, because it makes you not sound like you know what you’re doing.”
Goldberg also produced Chukwu’s historical retelling of the lynching of 14-year-old Emmett Till in 1955 and his mother’s (Danielle Deadwyler) subsequent fight for justice against the backdrop of southern America. Danielle Deadwyler portrayed Till’s mother.
It was important for Chukwu, she stated in a previous press conference, to “not just show the inherent sadness and pain,” but also the “joy and love that is really at the root of the narrative.” She stated that the Till family gave their blessing to the film and that they were happy with how it turned out. After conducting interviews with Till’s family, Chukwu came to the conclusion that Till was a “jokester.” She felt it was vital “that we see, feel, and hear him be a boy before what would invariably happen to him,” and so she wrote a book about Till’s childhood.
On October 14, Till will debut in a limited number of theaters, and then on October 28, it will be released in theaters across the country.
