Did The View suspend Whoopi Goldberg for two weeks, or 10 episodes, for refusing to apologize to Kyle Rittenhouse for calling him a "cowardly little Nazi"? No, that's not true: There is no record of Goldberg characterizing Rittenhouse with those words and Goldberg remained host after the claim was published by a known satire site. It is the work of Christopher Blair, a notorious liberal prankster who produces fake claims to troll conservatives.
The story originated in an article published by AmericasLastLineofDefense.com on December 10, 2021, titled "Whoopi Suspended From The View For 2 Weeks for Refusing to Apologize" (archived here). It opened:
The View has suspended Whoopi Goldberg for 2 weeks, or 10 episodes, for refusing to apologize to Kyle Rittenhouse for calling him a "cowardly little Nazi." The decision came down from the Executive Producer and Goldberg was immediately notified.
Users on social media only saw this title, description and thumbnail:
Whoopi Suspended From The View For 2 Weeks for Refusing to Apologize
It may not sound like much, but 10 episodes is a lot of cash lost.
Proof that Whoopi was not suspended could be seen by tuning into the show on Monday, December 13, 2021. A clip from the day's show tweeted on The View Twitter account showed Goldberg in the moderator chair.
DO WOMEN CARE ABOUT MEN'S HEIGHT? While promoting the new sequel #SpiderManNoWayHome, Tom Holland and Zendaya were asked about people making comments on the fact that she's taller than him, which they said was a nonissue - the co-hosts and @amandacarpenter weigh in. pic.twitter.com/Mzrq41QusP
-- The View (@TheView) December 13, 2021
The site is part of the "America's Last Line of Defense" network of satire websites run by self-professed liberal troll Christopher Blair from Maine along with a loose confederation of friends and allies. He runs several websites and Facebook pages with visible satire disclaimers everywhere. They mostly publish made-up stories with headlines specifically created to trigger Republicans, conservatives and evangelical Christians into angrily sharing or commenting on the story on Facebook without actually reading the full article, exposing them to mockery and ridicule by fans of the sites and pages.
Every site in the network has an about page that reads (in part):
About Satire
Before you complain and decide satire is synonymous with "comedy":sat·ire
ˈsaˌtī(ə)r
noun
The use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues.Everything on this website is fiction. It is not a lie and it is not fake news because it is not real. If you believe that it is real, you should have your head examined. Any similarities between this site's pure fantasy and actual people, places, and events are purely coincidental and all images should be considered altered and satirical. See above if you're still having an issue with that satire thing.
Articles from Blair's sites frequently get copied by "real" fake news sites who omit the satire disclaimer and other hints the stories are fake. One of the most persistent networks of such sites is run by a man from Pakistan named Kashif Shahzad Khokhar (aka "DashiKashi") who has spammed hundreds of such stolen stories into conservative and right-wing Facebook pages in order to profit from the ad revenue.
When fact checkers point this out to the people liking and sharing these copycat stories some of them get mad at the fact checkers instead of directing their anger at the foreign spammers or the liberal satire writers. Others send a polite "thank you" note, which is much appreciated.
