Here’s How Whoopi Goldberg Stopped Physical Altercation on ‘The View'

In a recent episode of The View, Whoopi Goldberg took charge to prevent a possible physical altercation when an audience member was caught recording on his cellphone. However, there’s more to the story than what viewers saw on TV.

According to Brian Wilson, a Manhattan native who was present at the taping, the situation escalated when two women confronted the man attempting to record the episode. The man was reportedly holding his camera above a woman’s head, causing her much irritation. 

As reported by EW, Wilson revealed, "I can see hand gestures out of the corner of my eye. I could hear some noise on my right side, it started to become a little distracting. I could hear the woman say, 'Stop that' and 'move'.

At one point I heard her say, 'We might have to call security on you.'" He added, “Once I saw the flustering, I looked over, and I could see the guy has his camera out, the woman to his right is putting her hands on him, on the camera, to lower it down. She’s basically saying ‘Stop! Stop filming! Stop doing that! He aggressively nudged her hand away and was like, ‘No.’ He was not having [it]. That’s when I was like, ‘Oh, this is bad.' I can see some of the producers, stagehands, they're all looking in that direction to see who the guy is. I thought for sure that once the show went to commercial, they'd be like, 'Sir, you need to get out,' but to my surprise, they didn't."

Goldberg, along with co-hosts Sunny Hostin, Joy Behar, Sara Haines, and Alyssa Farah Griffin, were discussing Donald Trump when the incident unfolded. Pausing the discussion, Goldberg directly addressed the man with the camera, instructing him to refrain from filming further. Goldberg said, "Hold on a second, hold on. Sir, I have to stop you with the camera. Because I can see you. So, do me a favor, and don't pull it out again, I'd appreciate that. Thank you."

While the incident was swiftly handled on air, Wilson revealed that it lasted approximately six minutes before Goldberg stepped in. He also noted that the crew and producers were attentive to the situation and ready to take action if needed.

As per the New York Post, following the incident, Haines discussed the morning's events on the show's podcast Behind the Podcast. She recounted, “There was a man in our eyeline. Directly. He was lifting his phone up, and the woman next to him kept hitting his arm pretty aggressively. She kept swatting his phone down. I was having a hard time focusing because I was thinking, is this growing or building? And that’s when Whoopi got up.”