Comedienne Whoopi Goldberg had choice words for critics upset over Minister Louis Farrakhan‘s presence at the funeral of soul legend Aretha Franklin last week.
Farrakhan, who heads the Nation of Islam, was among the many famous faces who graced the dais at the Queen of Soul’s homegoing service on Friday, Aug. 31. Recalling the hours-long event, Goldberg noted that former president Bill Clinton caught heat for sharing stage with the controversial religious leader.
Whoopi Goldberg explained it was the Franklin family’s wishes to have Louis Farrakhan attend Aretha Franklin’s funeral. (The View / video screenshot)
“You’re bitchin’ about this, you need to call the [Franklin] family,” she said on “The View.” “Because the family invited Farrakhan there. They know him, there’s a reason he was there — and you don’t get up off a dais when you’ve been invited there to celebrate that person’s life.”
“It’s not about Bill Clinton or Louis Farrakhan. It’s all about Aretha,” she added, drawing applause from the audience.
Goldberg emphasized it was the family’s wishes for Farrakhan to be there, just as they had personally invited Clinton and the other famous guests. Her advice to critics? Take a chill pill because “you can’t control everything.”
During the funeral, folks couldn’t help but notice Farrakhan standing on the stage, beaming alongside the likes of the Rev. Al Sharpton and the Rev. Jesse Jackson. The leaders, including Clinton, were slammed for merely sharing the stage with the “radical” Black nationalist and, at one point, shaking hands with him.
“Liberals: Radical hate preacher Louis Farrakhan isn’t part of the Democratic party!” right-wing newscaster Liz Wheeler tweeted. “Also: Farrakhan sits next to Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, & Bill Clinton … ”
Networks ABC and MSNBC went so far as to crop Farrakhan out of the funeral photos, according to Twitchy.com.
Clinton’s daughter, Chelsea Clinton also made sure to distance herself from the controversy, tweeting “I am not my parents.”
Watch more in the video below.
