Whoopi Goldberg has slammed Meghan Markle for criticizing her previous role on Deal Or No Deal.
In a recent episode of her podcast, Archetypes, the Duchess of Sussex reflected on her stint on the game show, in which she appeared for 34 episodes between 2006 and 2007 as a 'briefcase girl'.
Markle told guest Paris Hilton that she felt "objectified" on the show, explaining: "It was solely about beauty and not necessarily about brains."
She continued: "I ended up quitting the show. I was so much more than what was being objectified on the stage. I didn't like feeling forced to be all looks. And little substance. And that's how it felt for me at the time being reduced to this specific archetype the word bimbo."
Talk show panelist and Oscar-winner Goldberg took a different view of Markle's time on Deal Or No Deal. In a recent episode of The View, the Sister Act star argued that the Duchess had no right to criticize her time as a briefcase girl, saying: "What did you think you were going to? That’s what the show was."
She went on to challenge Markle's assertion that she felt "objectified".
Watch the moment here:"I don't know that the people who are sitting there are thinking about you like that," the 66-year-old said. "They're thinking, 'I want the money'."
Goldberg added that "the objectification might be coming from you and how you felt about how these women were being portrayed."
"That's what you have to change," she continued: "Because we're performers. When you're a performer, you take the gig. Sometimes you’re in a Bozo suit, sometimes you got a big nose, and this is just the way it is. We’re not journalists. We’re actors. We’re trying to get to another place."
Goldberg finished by saying Markle should have more respect for women trying to make a living in similar jobs. "If you see it and that’s how you feel, just maybe you don’t want to make the other women feel bad because maybe they’re trying to make a living, too," she said.
Ghost star Goldberg isn't the first person to hit back at Markle's comments about Deal Or No Deal. Real Housewives of Atlanta star Claudia Jordan - who also had a stint as a briefcase girl - defended the game show, saying bosses "never treated them like bimbos" and claiming it provided "so many opportunities" per News.com.au.