Whoopi Goldberg addressed her name appearing in the Jeffrey Epstein files during "The View" on Tuesday, denying any connection to the late convicted sex offender. Goldberg appeared to confirm the request and was annoyed by critics who used the revelation to bash her and the show.
The 70-year-old host opened the segment by telling viewers, "In the name of transparency, my name is in the files." What followed was a masterclass in deflection from the entire panel: read the email, explain it away, and redirect the audience toward a different target as fast as possible.
The email in question is not nothing. Goldberg requested to borrow Epstein's private jet in order to fly to a charity event in Monaco for the White Feather Foundation in 2013, according to the email.
According to the Daily Mail, Goldberg read the document aloud on air, though the show notably did not zoom in on the email itself. Perhaps ABC News didn't want to zoom in on the email because then people would clearly see the request came on Wednesday, May 8, 2013.
The email from a redacted sender asked whether Epstein would lend his Gulfstream G-II for Goldberg's travel to a Julian Lennon charity event. Goldberg's name appears in emails between Jeffrey Epstein and a person whose name has been redacted. In the correspondence, they discussed arrangements to secure a private plane for Goldberg's trip to Monaco for a charity event hosted by Julian Lennon's White Feather Foundation.
Sunny Hostin immediately brushed off the request by pointing out that Epstein rejected it. Epstein turned down the request in another email with a brief "no thnaks [sic]."
That is true. Epstein declined. But the question Goldberg never answered is the one that matters most: why was someone in her orbit reaching out to a convicted child sex offender for a plane in the first place? Never addressing why HIS jet was requested, the rest of the cast of The View came to Goldberg's defense, claiming she didn't fly anywhere, and trying to put the focus on President Trump instead.
It took the panel roughly thirty seconds to shift the spotlight. Behar wasted no time:
But Trump is on the list 38,000 times. Come on!
President Trump, who has not been accused of any wrongdoing in regard to the Epstein case, told reporters on Saturday that the latest release of documents absolved him. Such incidental mentions of persons also made up the vast majority of the mentions of Trump, a fact most people citing those numbers intentionally left out.
This is what The View does best. Goldberg was sitting in the hot seat, confronted with a documented request to borrow a convicted pedophile's private jet, and within moments the panel turned it into an opportunity to attack the president. Goldberg's response to Behar's pivot was revealing:
I can't speak to him, but I'm speaking about me because I'm getting dragged. People actually believe that I was with him.
Co-host Sara Haines joked that Goldberg was "too old" for Epstein. Goldberg agreed, adding that she "was not only too old" and that "you used to have to have facts before you said stuff." A curious standard to invoke from the same panel that has spent weeks using the Epstein files to smear others without similar charity.
Two weeks after NewsBusters broke the story that ABC News moderator Whoopi Goldberg was not only referenced in the Epstein files but also seemingly requested to borrow Jeffrey Epstein's private jet to get to a charity event for The White Feather Foundation. For fourteen days, The View continued covering the Epstein files without mentioning their own host's presence in them.
Despite the files being a major topic of discussion on the show, as they tried to tie President Trump to criminal activity, none of the cast members addressed their names appearing in the same files. It was not just Goldberg. A search of the cast members' names on the Department of Justice website returned nearly four dozen (46) references. Moderator Whoopi Goldberg led the way with 21 references, co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin clocked in with 20, Joy Behar had three, and Ana Navarro had two.
The View continued to pound on the files during a prior episode, mocking Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick getting grilled on Capitol Hill for his interactions with the convicted pedophile. However, as they were questioning how Lutnick's nanny's resume ended up in the Epstein files, the resume of a former employee of moderator Whoopi Goldberg was also in there and went undisclosed to viewers.
Behar's other contribution to the segment was a sweeping dismissal of the entire file release. "In other words, anybody can be on this list!" co-host Joy Behar said.
This is a fascinating argument coming from a panel that has used the same files to imply guilt by association for every public figure they dislike. When a Republican's name surfaces, it is treated as proof of a dark connection. When Goldberg's name surfaces, suddenly "anybody can be on this list."
Many celebrities, politicians and other well-known people are mentioned or pictured in the files, though most have not been accused of any wrongdoing in connection to Epstein. That is true. And it has always been true. But The View only discovered that nuance when it applied to one of their own.
The broader context is worth noting. The DOJ sent Congress a list of over 300 "politically exposed persons" found across the 3.5 million pages of released documents, but provided no distinction between individuals who had extensive direct contact with Epstein and those whose names appeared in unrelated contexts, such as news clippings or third-party correspondence. That is a legitimate concern. But it is a concern The View only raised when it was Goldberg's reputation on the line.
While The View was busy running damage control, the Epstein files were doing what they have been doing for weeks: exposing the social web of a convicted child sex offender and forcing powerful people to account for it.
The Justice Department's latest release of millions of files related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein is leading to high-profile resignations around the world. The fallout includes:
Careers are ending. Reputations are collapsing. And Whoopi Goldberg thinks the appropriate response is to read the email on air, shrug, and let Joy Behar change the subject to Trump.
Nobody is accusing Goldberg of criminal conduct. Goldberg's name appears elsewhere in the documents, there's no indication that she ever spent time with the disgraced financier. Many mentions were merely newsletters and press emails promoting events featuring Goldberg.
But the standard The View has applied to others is not "Were you convicted of a crime?" It is "Why were you anywhere near this man?" That is the standard Goldberg herself has applied on air, week after week, to politicians, business leaders, and officials whose names appeared in the same trove of documents. The question is not whether Goldberg committed a crime. The question is why the rules change when the name on the screen belongs to the host.
Others pointed out that the gals of "The View" previously excoriated President Donald Trump for being present in the Epstein files, and now they're excusing Goldberg's presence.
In November 2025, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act, and the U.S. Senate unanimously approved it; President Donald Trump signed the bill the next day. The files exist because the American public demanded transparency. That transparency does not extend to daytime television hosts who would prefer to talk about someone else.
