Whoopi Goldberg on ‘The View’.Photo:The View/X

The View/X
Whoopi Goldbergmade it clear on Thursday’s episode ofThe Viewthat she has no ties toJeffrey Epstein.
Amid revelations and speculation about the famous and influential people who visited the private island of the late convicted sex offender, the Oscar winner denied ever traveling there. “Apparently, they said I was on the island. And I don’t go anywhere!” she said. “So I’m just going to say — and there’s just been a lot of stuff recently, I don’t know what I’ve done to anybody — but apparently there are a lot of the [tabloid] sites [and] people don’t realize they can be harmful.”
The 68-year-old then debunked a few other rumors she’d heard about herself: “I never got kicked out ofGordon Ramsay’s restaurant. I never got kicked out ofGuy Fieri’s restaurant. I didn’t get kicked offBill Maher’s show. I didn’t get into a fight withOprahbackstage here atThe View. I mean, it just goes — it’s insane. It goes on and on and on.”
The co-host explained the dangers of “satire” in the news, adding, “once someone is cleared of their insanity, they’re going to call their lawyer on you. … It’s important for people to recognize what is satire. And it’s important for the people who put these sites out to say in big bold writing, ‘This is satire.’”
Some of the names listed in the unsealed files arePrince Andrew, former Harvard law professorAlan Dershowitz, late modeling agentJean Luc Bruneland former PresidentBill Clinton. The documents do not, however, establish that any of the individuals named participated in any misconduct.
Whoopi Goldberg (left) and Jeffrey Epstein.Sean Zanni/Patrick McMullan via Getty; Neil Rasmus/Patrick McMullan via Getty

Sean Zanni/Patrick McMullan via Getty; Neil Rasmus/Patrick McMullan via Getty
The island Goldberg referenced is Little Saint James, where he allegedly procured young women — some of whom were under the age of 18 — for his famous friends.
In 2008, Epstein pled guilty to charges of soliciting prostitution from a minor, specific to the state of Florida. He served 18 months in a work-release program for the crimes. In 2019, he was arrested on federal sex trafficking charges. Epstein’s confidanteGhislane Maxwellwas sentenced to 20 years in prison on similar trafficking charges in 2022.
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Epstein died in prison of an apparent suicide in 2019. Epstein’s crimes were recounted in the 2020 Netflix documentaryJeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich.
source: people.com