Mississippi meteorologist defended by Whoopi Goldberg after being ‘taken off air’ over Snoop Dogg quote

‘The View’ host complained that ‘it’s hard to keep up’ with policitcal correctness

The View host Whoopi Goldberg ranted about political correctness after a Mississippi news anchor was apparently pulled off air for quoting Snoop Dogg lyrics.

Meteorologist and news anchor Barbie Bassett has not been seen on air for the NBC affiliate WLBT since 8 March.

During her last episode, Bassett said, “Fo shizzle, my nizzle”, while she and other presenters were discussing Snoop Dogg’s new line of wines. “Nizzle” is slang for the N-word.

On her ABC talk show on Monday (27 March), Goldberg said that Bassett should not be fired over the incident.

“There has to be a book of stuff that nobody could ever say, ever, ever, ever. Include everything,” she said. “The things that change, you can say this, but you can’t say that, but next week you might not be able to say this, it’s hard to keep up. It’s hard to keep up. And if you’re a person of a certain age, there’s stuff we do, and we say.”

She added that “just because we’re on television, doesn’t mean we know everything”.

“We don’t know everything you’re not supposed to do. And if there is something someone says, if you’re not going to give them the opportunity to explain why they said it, at least give them the grace of saying ‘you know what, I’ve just been informed that I should not of done that,’ as opposed to ‘you’re out.’ Because saying ‘you’re out’ means that you don’t want to hear what people have to say or the mistakes that they might have made that could have helped somebody else not make that mistake,” she continued.

Whoopi Goldberg (left) and Barbie Barrett (ABC/NBC)

Goldberg’s co-host Sara Haines added: “When she leaves though, you know when this stuff happens, it’s not like people come back on the air and say ‘let us clarify.’”

Appearing to reference her own past controversies, Goldberg looked directly into the camera and said: “No, they never let you do that.”

Goldberg was most recently forced to apologise to viewers earlier this month after using a slur in reference to Donald Trump.

Earlier in 2022, she was suspended from The View for suggesting the Holocaust “was not about race”.

This is also not the first time that Bassett has caused controversy. In October last year, she apologised after she referred to a Black reporter’s “grandmammy” on air.

Bassett is no longer listed on the station’s website, according to The Clarion-Ledger.

The New York Post quotes the station’s regional vice president Ted Fortenberry as saying: “As I am sure you can understand, WLBT is unable to comment on personnel matters.”

The Independent has contacted a representative of WLBT for comment.