Did a guest on the talk show "The View" tell actress Whoopi Goldberg, one of the show's co-hosts, that she was "full of shit"? No, that's not true: A self-described social media personality named Damon Imani, who has appeared in previous Lead Stories fact checks, edited himself into an episode of "The View" for satirical purposes. Imani does not appear in the original March 26, 2024, "The View" episode, when Goldberg, along with the other co-hosts, was recorded talking with the audience.
The claim appeared in a reel (archived here) on Facebook on March 27, 2024. Above a reposted TikTok video thumbnail featuring Goldberg, text read:
He said WHAT?! 😂👀☠️
This is what the post looked like on Facebook at the time of the writing of this fact check:
(Source: Facebook screenshot taken on Fri Mar 29 21:43:02 2024 UTC)
As suggested by the reel's @damonimani hashtag, the video originated from a March 28, 2024, TikTok video (archived here) posted by Damon Imani, a self-described "Iranian producer and artist based in Denmark, who creates video content related to various topics, including societal issues, news, and current events."
In the 48-second video, Imani appears to respond to Goldberg on the topic of former President Donald Trump:
Goldberg: This is a man who said I'm going to perpetrate a coup on the country... [edited cut here] ... Now we talk about this like it's normal now!
Imani [during the edited cut]: Excuse me, Whoopi, I've got a -- you just said this is a man who said I'm going to perpetrate a coup on the country. That is a very bold statement. Do you have a screenshot or a video of Trump saying that? (pause)
Imani: How about producer -- do you have a video or quote just a quote, so we can show it to the audience? (pause)
Imani [looking back at Goldberg]: You people are full of shit, aren't you. [end of edited cut]
Not only does Imani put in the caption of the TikTok video that this post is "satire but true," but the bio on his website (archived here) notes that:
Known for his satirical approach, Imani draws attention to societal and political issues through his work.
The original taping of this episode is seen in this March 26, 2024, YouTube video, titled, "Takeaways From Trump's Day In Court | The View," uploaded onto the official "The View" account. Imani is nowhere to be found in this original taping of the episode -- proof that his footage was edited in.
At the 6:00 mark in the official "The View" recording, Goldberg's conversation with the all-female panel of co-hosts -- directed to the audience, not Imani -- went like this:
... Now, when I was a kid, nobody -- if somebody had said that -- your face would fall off! Your head would explode! But we talk about this like it's normal now!
Additional Lead Stories fact checks mentioning Damon Imani can be read here.
