Whoopi Goldberg shocks with new look on ‘The View’ — here’s why

Something was noticeably different about Whoopi Goldberg’s appearance during Monday’s episode of “The View.”

Goldberg, who has been wearing eyeglasses for 28 years, hosted without them, explaining during the “Hot Topics” segment that she had undergone eye surgery over the weekend.

“I had an operation, and they replaced the lens and the lens they replaced it with is kind of like my eyeglass lens,” the 67-year-old announced.

Co-host Sunny Hostin then interjected, excitedly declaring that Goldberg could now see.

Goldberg explained that, “Two weeks ago, when we had a show with the folks from ‘Picard,’ I was trying to read the prompter without my actual glasses, and I couldn’t do it, so I ended up having to wear them [my glasses].”

The “Sister Act” star revealed that the procedure was to treat a condition called presbyopia. She explained that she had “teeny tiny” cataracts on the lens of her eye, which is why they were replaced it.

Presbyopia is a “refractive error” that makes it hard for people to see objects up close, according to the National Eye Institute. It is a normal part of aging, and occurs because the lens in your eye “stops focusing light correctly on the retina,” the NEI notes.

During the segment, Goldberg urged viewers to get their eyes checked if they were experiencing any issues with their vision.

“The bionic times have arrived,” she joked.

Goldberg’s announcement comes on the heels of her recent controversy on the talk show. During last Wednesday’s episode of “The View,” Goldberg used what is considered an ethnic slur toward the Romani people.

She referred to “people who still believe that he got gy—d somehow in the election” while discussing Donald Trump and Stormy Daniels.

The term is derived from the word “Gypsy” and is considered derogatory.

Less than one hour later, she issued an apology for using the word, via a video that was posted to the show’s official Twitter account.

“You know, when you’re a certain age you use the words that you know from when you were a kid or you remember saying, and that’s what I did today — and I shouldn’t have,” Goldberg said in the short clip.

She continued, “I should have thought about it a little longer before I said it but I didn’t. I should have said ‘cheated’ and I used another word and I’m really, really sorry.”

The hosts were also slammed last week by fans for failing to ask Hugh Grant about his viral Oscars 2023 interview with Ashley Graham. He appeared on the show Thursday.