Whoopi's View Debut Dogged

Whoopi Goldberg's first day on The View has gone to the dogs.

Stepping into the moderator post vacated by Rosie O'Donnell, the funnylady picked up where her outspoken predecessor left off, stirring up controversy during her debut Tuesday on ABC's morning gabfest by sticking up for disgraced NFL star Michael Vick regarding his role in a federal dogfighting probe.

Goldberg noted that the Atlanta Falcons quarterback is from the Deep South, where such illegal activity is "part of his cultural upbringing" and occurs more regularly.

"Where he comes from...it's like cockfighting in Puerto Rico. There are certain things that are indicative to certain parts of the country," the comedian said. "For a lot of people, dogs are sport. Instead of just saying [Vick] is a beast and he's a monster, this is a kid who comes from a culture where this is not questioned."

Goldberg's comments drew a sharp retort from View panelist Joy Behar, who replied, "What part of the country is this?...How about dog torturing and dog murdering?"

The 27-year-old Vick, who hails from Virginia, went from one of pro football's most promising young talents to an instant pariah after he and three other men were busted for pitting various pit bulls against one another in contests as part of an illegal interstate gambling operation, then killing the losers execution-style. He recently pleaded guilty to federal dogfighting charges as part of a plea bargain with prosecutors.

Sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 10, at which point he could receive up to five years in prison and a fine of $250,000, though it's expected he'll get less than the maximum.

Just hours after Vick's plea deal was announced, the NFL suspended him indefinitely for violating its personal conduct policy (though league officials seemed to be more upset about the gambling as opposed to killing innocent dogs for sport).

Shortly after Goldberg made her alleged faux pas, animal rights activists took her to task for defending Vick.

Ingrid Newkirk, president of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, penned a letter to the Academy Award winner, pointing out that electrocuting animals—one practice that the sports hero and his pals confessed to participating in, among other canine abuses—is an unconscionable activity that doesn't just occur in the south but lots of other places.

"I think a lot of people who live and work in the South—as PETA does—will not appreciate the view that cruelty to dogs is an accepted Southern pastime," read the missive. "Those who fight dogs do so in New York, Chicago, and even the Republic of Ireland, and what unites them is lawlessness and callousness, not whether they eat grits or Belgian waffles for breakfast. We urge you not to excuse dogfighters as having some cultural blindspot."

Newkirk subsequently spoke with Goldberg on the phone about the matter and, according to PETA's blog, the new View cohost explained she never meant to come off as accepting of any sort of animal cruelty, especially given her support of animal rights causes—including the Humane Society's First Strike campaign, which seeks to educate younger generations about the link between human violence and animal cruelty.

Speaking of the Humane Society, that organization also bared its teeth in the matter.

"To suggest that there is some ethnic group or racial group or regional group that finds this acceptable is just not accurate," Human Society president Wayne Pacelle told Reuters, noting that polls show Americans are universally against dogfighting.

For her part, the comic actress didn't disagree, remarking on Tuesday's show that she was perplexed by Vick's behavior "because it seemed like a light went off in his head when he realized this was something that the entire country didn't appreciate."

Following her View debut, Goldberg told reporters she wasn't going to back down from stating an unpopular opinion since that's what the program's all about, making it clear she takes issue with the media image of the athlete as some kind of "monster."

"He's a wonderful guy who was involved in something terrible. I'm not excusing it, I'm just saying, listen, I believe his apology," she said, "and maybe this will be a huge wakeup call to a lot of people doing this."

A rep for ABC said the network did not receive any phone complaints following the show.

As for The View's grand matriarch, Barbara Walters gave Goldberg a big thumbs up as the panel's new moderator.

"I think she had a great first day," said the legendary news woman.

Helping the Whoopster, Walters, Behar and Elisabeth Hasselbeck kick off The View's 11th season was Danny "Limoncello" DeVito, who served as the sole guest on Tuesday's broadcast.

Producers also confirmed plans to announce a fifth permanent member at the all-female roundtable by the time the pregnant Hasselbeck goes on maternity leave in November. Walters said Wednesday the big announcement would be made on Monday's show. 

As for The View's former lightning rod, O'Donnell said on her videoblog Tuesday she had watched Goldberg's first episode and thought she did a pretty credible job, but she took issue with one change on the show.

Whoopi was good," said the comic, "but why did they change the set back to beige?"