Whoopi Goldberg and her fellow panelists on The View have defended Nicole Scherzinger after the former Pussycat Dolls star became embroiled in a controversy over Russell Brand’s Jesus hat.
The singer sparked a fierce backlash after commenting “Where do I get this hat!!!?” on an Instagram post showing Brand holding a red baseball cap with the slogan: “Make Jesus First Again.”
Brand’s post celebrated Donald Trump’s 2024 US presidential election win, and many fans online interpreted Scherzinger’s comment to be a message of support for the president-elect.
The backlash was so severe that many speculated it might harm Scherzinger’s chances of winning a Tony for her acclaimed Broadway performance as Norma Desmond in Sunset Blvd.
However, on today’s (November 11) episode of The View, several panelists came to Scherzinger’s defense.
Ana Navarro said: “Emotions are so raw. It’s overkill. I think people are losing their minds. Right now social media is a rough, rough place to be. You can literally post a picture of puppies and there will be people attacking you. Every day I get thousands of people telling me to ‘go eat another burrito and go back to Mexico.’ I ain’t going anywhere.”
Sara Haines added that “the mob mentality on social media” is “poisonous and toxic,” and said: “People are calling for her to not be nominated for a Tony. This has gotten out of control.”
On Friday (November 8), Scherzinger took to Instagram to apologize for her comment: “I deeply apologize for the hurt caused by my recent engagement with some social media posts.
“When I commented on these posts, I made the mistake of not realizing they could easily be interpreted as being politically related and I apologize to anyone who understandably reached that conclusion.”
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She continued: “Many presumptions are being drawn, which do not reflect who I am, what I stand for, or who I voted for.
“Many of the marginalized communities feeling hurt and concerned by the results of the presidential election are people I care about most. I stand with them, as I always have, throughout my life and career. If you know me, you know that.”
On The View, Navarro argued that Scherzinger “shouldn’t have apologized” as she had nothing to be sorry for. She then joked: “Does this mean I can get tickets now for the show because it was very sold out.”
Goldberg replied: “And it’s still going to be very sold out.”
“She’s brilliant in the show,” Goldberg added. “She liked a hat. Relax. She liked a hat about Jesus. I would think that would be a unifying thing. It’s a hat. It’s just a hat.”