Whoopi Goldberg isn’t here for ageist commentary on Dolly Parton’s latest incarnation as a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader.
While most Americans were celebrating Thanksgiving, Parton delivered a dazzling halftime show at the Dallas Cowboys-Washington Commanders game. The country superstar’s set included her classic songs “Jolene” and “9 to 5,” as well as a spirited mashup of Queen’s “We Are the Champions” and “We Will Rock You.”
The performance, however, drew a fair share of online criticism, much of it focused on the singer wearing a crop top and shorts over a flesh-colored body suit. “Nobody wants to see a 95 year old granny dressed like that even if you’re worth 650 million,” one person wrote of Parton, who’s 77, on Instagram.
Acknowledging the discourse on “The View” on Monday, Goldberg offered a concise retort to Parton’s detractors.
“Some critics told her to act her age. Bite me!” she said. “And everybody who participated in this, you should be ashamed of yourself.”
Co-host Sunny Hostin agreed, noting: “If I look like that in one of them Cowboys things, I might have everything out. I don’t know if that’s a belly ring or what, but I want what she has.”
The conversation then shifted to Beyoncé’s 11-year-old daughter, Blue Ivy Carter, who was subjected to online snark after performing onstage with her mom during the Renaissance Tour this summer.
“She’s somebody who doesn’t care what you think,” Goldberg said. “She’s someone who’s thinking for herself, and I’d like to see each and every one of you haters ... do half of what she did on that stage. Let’s see your dance videos that you haven’t cleaned up. Don’t be shady, man. Life’s too short.”
Similarly, Parton doesn’t appear to be fazed by such commentary. Appearing on the Amazon Music series “The Walk In” last month, she vowed to dress “as sexy as I could be” as she prepared to unveil “Rockstar,” her first rock album.
“We want to show just enough,” she said at the time.
Watch “The View” discuss Dolly Parton’s Thanksgiving performance below.