Whoopi Goldberg spits on The View stage over leaked Uvalde shooting video: 'Shame on you'

Whoopi Goldberg slammed a Texas newspaper for publishing footage from inside the May 24 Robb Elementary shooting that killed 19 students and two teachers inside the Uvalde area school.

After the Austin American-Statesman leaked over an hour of disturbing footage from inside the school during the shooting — which showed the gunman entering the building and the subsequent, heavily criticized response from local law enforcement — Goldberg noted on Wednesday's episode of The View that the outlet's decision caused "outrage" amongst victims' families, as the committee investigating the shooting reportedly planned to show the video to Uvalde community members over the weekend.

"I find it indefensible. I'm sorry, you forgot that, attached to all those sounds are people's children, and you didn't have to do this. They were going to see this video on Sunday, you did not have to release this and leak it. I think it's appalling and you should be ashamed of yourselves for doing that, for being thoughtless about the parents who have to relive this every day because it's on television every time you turn around," the panel moderator said before turning to her right and spitting on The View stage in protest. "I don't know if you guys over at that newspaper have kids, but, shame on you. I know it doesn't mean anything coming from me, but shame on you."

Goldberg's co-host, Sunny Hostin, called the leak a "difficult balancing act" of journalistic ethics.

"It's so important that we be able to, as the public... videos, in my view, lead to just results, increased training, awareness, it can really change the public narrative," she said.

Goldberg added that, though the footage confirmed to her that police officers didn't act swiftly enough to combat the shooter, "to leak this without telling the parents, without giving them the opportunity to re-steel themselves" was problematic. "For them not to have given them a heads up... these are real people, these are real children that died," the Oscar-winning performer finished.

"Our goal is to continue to bring to light what happened at Robb Elementary, which the families and friends of the Uvalde victims have long been asking for," wrote American-Statesman Ethics & Standards Editor Manny Garcia in a response to backlash over the footage's publication, also noting that they decided to remove audio — including screams from the children when the gunman entered their classroom — but proceed with releasing the footage after "long and thoughtful discussions" on how to proceed.

"We have to bear witness to history, and transparency and unrelenting reporting is a way to bring change," Garcia continued. "This story is part of a much larger public records and legal battle from our journalists, aligned with reporters in Uvalde, around Texas and the United States, to obtain all videos of the tragedy, body-camera footage, communications, 911 calls and more. We are all aligned for the truth."

In addition to Goldberg, other celebrities have spoken out in favor of government action on gun violence. Taylor Swift, Goldberg's The View co-host Ana Navarro, Viola Davis, Julianne Moore, Abbott Elementary's Quinta Brunson, and Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr emphatically spoke out against senators' lack of action on the issue following the shooting, as did Uvalde native Matthew McConaughey.

"This is an epidemic we can control, whichever side of the aisle we may stand on," McConaughey wrote in a statement shortly after the Robb Elementary shooting. "We all know we can do better. We must do better. Action must be taken so that no parent has to experience what the parents in Uvalde and the others before them have endured. And to those who dropped off their loved ones today not knowing it was goodbye, no words can comprehend or heal your loss, but if prayers can provide comfort, we will keep them coming."

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