Beloved Staten Island Bakery Blasts Back After 'View's' Whoopi Goldberg Alleges Political Discrimination

Wednesday, November 13th was "The View" co-host Whoopi Goldberg's 69th birthday.

During the program, she served up a total count of 50 Charlotte Russe confections, complete with whipped cream and cherry on top, while telling the story about how the place she tried to order them from allegedly discriminated against her based on politics earlier in the month when she tried to make a pre-order.

“My birthday dessert today was one of my mom’s favorites from when she was a kid. She talked about these all the time. They’re called Charlotte Russe,” she said during the program.

“Now, I should tell you," she went on to say, "Charlotte Russe has no political leanings, and the place that made these refused to make them for me."

As Goldberg was talking, co-host Sara Haines literally spit out the bite she had taken of the dessert in solidarity with Goldberg, with it landing on the table.

“They said that their ovens had gone down, all kinds of stuff, but folks went and got them anyway, which is why I’m not telling you who made them," Goldberg also alleged without evidence, suggesting "perhaps they did not like [my] politics."

Watch:

Whoopi said on The View that a bakery refused her cupcakes order due to her liberal stance. However, Jill Holtermann, who owns Holtermann's Bakery on Staten Island, said that they were unable to meet the order due to a boiler issue.

Goldberg lied and slandered this bakery. pic.twitter.com/HWvnEBtSjh
— 🇺🇸 Inga 🇺🇸 (@Inga_C8) November 15, 2024

Entertainment Weekly figured out that the place in question was a Staten Island bakery called Holtermann's, which has been around for 145 years and is New York state's oldest bakery. It has a passionate following and a stellar reputation.

So when EW contacted the third-generation co-owner, Jill Holtermann, she told them that the reason she initially denied the request was due to equipment problems, not politics:

"They’d asked us and we were having trouble with our boilers," Holtermann says, adding that Goldberg initially requested treats for a Nov. 6 appearance on a talk show, and for the Nov. 13 broadcast of The View — both of which she declined because she "didn't want to make a commitment that I can’t carry through” over the uncertainty of her equipment. She also confirms that an unidentified woman picked up around 50 Charlotte Russe desserts from the bakery at 7:30 a.m. ET Wednesday morning, which she was able to make — but didn't want to commit to ahead of time over ongoing boiler issues. She adds that she was not aware of any affiliations that the woman who picked up the desserts on Wednesday morning might have had, with regard to The View or otherwise.
Holtermann says that the building she operates in is nearly 100 years old, so equipment issues sometimes get in the way of fulfilling requests — as it did in the case of Goldberg's long-range order.

“I said to Whoopi, 'I can’t do it right now," she adds. "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."

On Friday, members of the community including Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella held a press conference to show support for Holtermann, who also spoke at the presser, and to demand an apology from Goldberg, who made the claim without a shred of evidence:

So Whoopi lied- Don’t mess with Staten Island pic.twitter.com/6xan4veHqC
— Karli Bonne’ 🇺🇸 (@KarluskaP) November 15, 2024

Some wondered if a lawsuit would be forthcoming:

Is a lawsuit coming for Whoopi, ABC & Disney pic.twitter.com/Dhwy2CY0Rw
— Karli Bonne’ 🇺🇸 (@KarluskaP) November 15, 2024

Holtermann also said she was "overwhelmed" and grateful for the support and flood of orders she'd received from people across the country.

I thought I saw a report out there somewhere that indicated Goldberg was standing by her statement despite the denial from Holtermann's, but I was unable to locate it. Whatever the case may be, I think it's pretty clear who messed up here, and it's not Jill Holtermann, who says she simply wants to get back to doing what she and her family love to do - serve the community and bake.

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