Whoopi Goldberg walks back claim ‘American Idol’ began ‘downfall of society’

Whoopi Goldberg is having to take back her view.

“The View” co-host was pushed to walk back her claim that “American Idol” was the “beginning of the downfall of society.”

The 67-year-old made the bold claim on the ABC talk show Wednesday morning.

Goldberg’s theory was brought up as the women of the show discussed why Netflix recently “dwelled” on the final days and legacy of Anna Nicole Smith in a new documentary.

The actress claimed that viewers flock to these kinds of shows because “people like to be judgy.”

“You have ‘Basketball Wives,’ you have the ‘Housewives’ of whatever, all the Bravo shows, giving you the impression that you’re doing something wrong because you’re living your life,” Goldberg said.

“People watch these shows because they make them feel better,” Goldberg continued. “I think that we, as a society, love to watch stuff to judge folks.”

“You know, I’ve always thought that the beginning of the downfall of society was with, um, what’s the name of that show?” Goldberg asked, turning to executive producer Brian Teta to help jog her memory. “I always tell you that.”

“ABC’s ‘American Idol?’” Teta replied, pointedly reminding Goldberg that the show she was criticizing is produced by the same network that airs her show.

Goldberg’s audience and fellow co-host caught onto the hint and laughed as she attempted to shift the blame away from the network that employs her.

She notes that the singing competition show “wasn’t always on ABC.”

“American Idol” aired its first 15 seasons on Fox from 2002 until 2016. The popular show then returned on the air in 2018 with its current lineup of judges — country singer Luke Bryan, R&B icon Lionel Richie and popstar Katy Perry — after being picked up by ABC.

After trying to soften the blow to her home network, Goldberg continued on with her “American Idol” rant.

“Once we gave people the ability to judge other people, I think we ran amok with it,” she added. “And it’s gone out of control.”

“They invited the public to decide who their person was,” Goldberg explained. “And I feel once we did that, it began us in a cycle.”

In an attempt to reel Goldberg in once more, Teta chimed in from offstage, prompting Goldberg to sassily stop mid-sentence and question him. “Did you really just do that?” she chided.

The EP pushed: “One last thing is that we’ve talked about this and it’s gotten better and you like it now … Remember?”

The audience erupted in more laughter as co-host Sunny Hostin mocked the interaction looking straight into the camera: “She likes it ABC. She loves it.”

The “Sister Act” star did clarify that she watched the show when “ABC didn’t have it.”

“They have it now. It’s a different show. The judges are different with the people who are coming,” she said. “ABC knows that I feel like this. I’ve told them. It had nothing to do with them. It had to do with the show.”

Turning to Teta, she jokingly added, “See? You starting stuff, man!”

The Post has contacted reps for “The View” and “American Idol” for comment.