Rachel Bilson has clapped back at Whoopi Goldberg after she expressed that she finds The O.C. star’s views on her romantic partners’ sexual history “very odd.”
The O.C. star Rachel Bilson is sharing her new viewpoint after Whoopi Goldberg called out her controversial stance on men’s body counts.
The issue came up when Rachel Bilson shared how she would feel if she were to find out a potential boyfriend lacked sexual experience while speaking on the Oct. 2 episode of her Broad Ideas podcast.
“If it’s really low, at this day and age, you’d be like, ‘It’s a little weird,'” Rachel Bilson said. “This is going to sound so judgmental, but if a dude’s, like, in his 40s and he’s, like, slept with, like, four women. But it all depends. Maybe he’s been in, like, decade[-long] relationships.”
She added, “It’s not fair for me to say either way.”
But Goldberg didn’t hold back from sharing her opinion on Bilson’s comments during the Oct. 5 episode of The View.
“I’m sorry, I think it’s very odd that you’re concerned that he’s had sexual partners—any sexual partners. Why is it your business?” she said during a Hot Topics segment. “Listen, men, traditionally, were taught to have many sexual partners.”
The Color Purple actress continued, “That’s how it was. Men could go and do whatever they wanted to do, and women were not supposed to.”
However, Goldberg noted that, these days, the tables have turned.
“Now that has been shifting, and young women have been bitching about, you know, ‘Why are you telling me what I should be [doing?],'” the 67-year-old continued. “Now, it’s happening, and you’re mad. I don’t understand.”
Bilson is now clarifying what she meant and addressing the Sister Act star’s claims.
“I want to say that I’ve been a fan of Whoopi’s for a very long time, so when I saw the tagline that she criticized something I said, I of course was concerned,” she told Entertainment Weekly Oct. 5. “We make it a very safe, open place to discuss anything, and we were just talking. I have the power to edit our podcast, and I chose to keep the conversation as a whole in, because a lot of the time in life, you say something, and maybe you have a minute and you reflect on it.”
Bilson explained that after sharing her initial thoughts on the podcast, she took a moment to reflect and ultimately realized it’s not her place to dissect a person’s sex life.
“The point I get across is that it doesn’t matter, and maybe in the past I would’ve looked at it [judgmentally], but I wouldn’t do that anymore,” the 42-year-old confessed. “I made it clear that I don’t want to sound judgmental, it was important that that point get across, not what I said initially.”
The Hart of Dixie actress now hopes she can clear up any confusion listeners might have.
“It was a flippant comment that I was just talking with friends, and then I retracted it, because even talking about it now, I’m like, I don’t actually believe that,” Bilson admitted. “That’s why I think it’s important to stand up for it and clarify.”