Whoopi Goldberg on Mel Gibson: "He's Not a Racist"

While Whoopi Goldberg isn't defending her friend Mel Gibson in light of the recent tape-recordings where he allegedly admits to hitting Oksana Grigorieva, she is stating that Mel is not a racist.

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"I know Mel, and I know he's not a racist," Whoopi said Monday on The View (via PopEater). "I have had a long friendship with Mel. You can say he's being a bonehead, but I can't sit and say that he's a racist having spent time with him in my house with my kids. I don't like what he's done, make no mistake."

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Joy Behar questioned Whoopi on whether she thinks Mel is anti-Semitic after the rant he made in 2006 and to that the host blames alcohol.

"Drunks say stupid stuff to people all the time — because they're drunk, they're out of control, they are not thinking, they are idiotic," she explained. "I can't say anything about people like that because I know what they're like when they're drunk. This rant? I don't think he's drunk on this rant."

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"I'm not defending Mel," Whoopi clarified. "I'm simply saying I don't see him as a racist because that's not been my experience with him."