NYC Officials Call on Whoopi Goldberg to Apologize After She Said Bakery Denied Order for Political Reasons

Whoopi Goldberg attends an event, July 20, 2024, in Los Angeles. Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, File

Multiple New York City officials have called on Whoopi Goldberg, one of the hosts of “The View,” to issue an apology to a local bakery owner after Goldberg said she was denied service for political reasons.

Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella was among the group of local leaders and supporters who joined the owner of Holtermann’s Bakery, Jill Holtermann, for a news conference late last week after Goldberg “besmirched and defamed” the bakery owner.

“Not everybody wakes up every day thinking about politics,” Fossella said at the press event. “A good business person doesn’t care about anyone’s politics.”

On Nov. 13, Goldberg, an outspoken Democrat who backed Vice President Kamala Harris, celebrated her 69th birthday on ABC’s “The View” by providing a tray of Charlotte Russe cakes. However, she claimed on the show that the bakery refused to make the cakes for her.

“Now, I should tell you, Charlotte Russe has no political leanings, and the place that made these refused to make them for me,” she said. “They said that their ovens had gone down, but folks went and got them anyway, which is why I’m not telling you who made them.

“It’s not because I’m a woman, but perhaps they did not like my politics,” Goldberg continued. “But that’s OK because you know what? Listen, this is my mother’s celebration. Pick these up and celebrate with me and my mom. Thank you, everyone, for celebrating my birthday today.”

Later, Holtermann told news outlets that it was her bakery, but she said that there was no politics involved. Instead, according to Holtermann, her equipment had malfunctioned.

“I said to Whoopi, ‘I can’t do it right now,’” she told Entertainment Weekly last week. “‘We have so many things going on with my boiler,’ because the building is from 1930, so, when she called me, I had no idea [if we could] be baking everything.”

A day later, Goldberg, whose real name is Caryn Elaine Johnson, responded on Instagram that she believes it was still about politics.

“It does seem a little odd that when we called a few weeks before my birthday, and we were told they couldn’t process the order for my birthday because of an equipment failure, that somehow they were able to accept an order of a different 48 of the same dessert when somebody else called without using my name,” Goldberg stated in a video posted on the social platform.

She added that “it’s all okay ... because I enjoyed my delicious dessert and I had a happy, sweet birthday.”

In the news conference, Fossella confirmed that the bakery’s decades-old boiler had malfunctioned and had to be replaced, so the store didn’t want to commit to making a large order it couldn’t fulfill.

“Just say you’re sorry so we can put this behind us,” he said.

Holtermann’s issued multiple statements on social media in the meantime, including one that said it is “overwhelmed and beyond grateful for the support” it has received from Staten Islanders.

Making an appearance alongside Fossella, Holtermann told the press conference, “I know hard how hard my family has worked to keep this business alive.”

Staten Island Councilman David Carr also said at the presser that he wants “to send a message to the person who decided she was too important for a boiler breakdown.”

“She had to have her pastries and if it wasn’t coming to her, it must have been someone else’s fault. It must have been a directed insult to her,” he said.

In a later post on Facebook, Carr also criticized “The View” and its co-hosts for allowing “baseless political accusations.”

The Epoch Times contacted a representative for ABC for comment Sunday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.