Whoopi Goldberg had some choice words on The View this morning for a critic commenting on her appearance in Till, the true story film directed by Chinonye Chukwu about the 1955 lynching of 14-year-old Emmitt Till in Mississippi because he was a Mrs. White whistled.
The film, which just premiered at the New York Film Festival, chronicles Mamie Till Mobley’s extraordinary efforts to seek justice after the death of her son. Goldberg plays Alma, the boy’s grandmother. One review of the film referred to her “distracting” bulky suit — except Goldberg, who also produced the film, wasn’t wearing one.
RELATED: ‘Till’ NYFF Review: Chinonye Chukwu handles Emmett Till’s story with care
“I don’t care how you felt about the film,” Goldberg said this morning. “But you should know that wasn’t a fat suit, that was me. That was me. Those were steroids. do you remember last year I assume you don’t watch the show or you would know that wasn’t a fat suit. It’s okay not to be a fan of movies, but you want to keep people’s gazes outside. Just comment on the acting. And if you have a question, ask someone. I’m sure you didn’t mean to be demeaning.”
Goldberg, who did not name the critic or the magazine, missed several weeks of The View in 2019 after suffering from pneumonia.
Barbara Broccoli, who produced the film along with Goldberg, Keith Beauchamp, Thomas Levine, Michael Reilly and Fred Zollo, told Deadline, “This is an important film for me, for all of us.” Emmett, who was visiting his cousins, was lynched and murdered for referencing a young woman at the Bryant Grocery and Meat Market in Money, Mississippi. After a group of men dragged the boy from his uncle’s home, his mutilated body was discovered in the Tallahatchie River.
The film made from MGM’s Orion images will be shown in theaters by UAR on October 14th.