Rachel Bilson Fires Back After Whoopi Goldberg Questions Why She’s “B*tching” About A Man’s Sexual Inexperience: “Hear A Whole Conversation Before Casting Your Own Judgment”

Rachel Bilson is hitting back after Whoopi Goldberg questioned why she’s “bitching” in response to a comment she made on her Broad Ideas podcast. While speaking to Entertainment Weekly, the former O.C. star wished that Goldberg and the rest of The View co-hosts watched the entire podcast before they decided to highlight one part.

“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,” Bilson told the outlet.

In the recent episode of Broad Ideas, Bilson claimed it’s “a little weird” for a man in his forties to have “only slept with four women.” Later on in the podcast, however, she walked back her statement and clarified that it was “not fair” for her judge.

Still, her initial reaction was highlighted as a Hot Topics segment on Thursday’s (Oct. 5) episode of The View, where Goldberg laid into the actress.

“I think it’s very odd that you’re concerned that he’s had sexual partners — any sexual partner, why is it your business? It’s not your business,” she said. “Listen, men traditionally were taught to have many sexual partners. That was how it was. Men could go and do whatever they wanted to do and women were not supposed to.”

Goldberg continued, “Now that has been shifting … and now you mad! I don’t understand. If he’s happy with you and you’re having a good time, why are you bitching?”

In response, Bilson noted that her podcast is a “very safe open place to discuss anything.” Since she has “the power to edit” the episode, she said she chose to keep the entire conversation in because “in life, you say something, and maybe you have a minute and you reflect on it.”

“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,” she told EW. “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.”

She added, “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. That’s why I think it’s important to stand up for it and clarify.”

In the end, she urged viewers to listen to the entire episode before forming an opinion.

“Whatever’s out there, a clickbait comment, if you go on to listen to the conversation as a whole, and hear what I have to say, it actually isn’t what was first presented,” Bilson said. “I think it’s important to hear a whole conversation before casting your own judgment or criticism on something.”

The View airs weekdays at 11/10c on ABC.