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The beautiful Laverne Cox joined the ladies of The View as guest co-host of the day!

What the Hack:  Sony announced it will not release the comedy The Interview citing safety concerns over terrorist threats against the theaters showing the movie.  A lot of people are saying they let the terrorists win.  Laverne thinks it’s a horrible choice to cancel the film’s release.  She said as an actress, artist and American, this is not what we’re about as a country.  We’re about freedom of speech, expression and the second we start censoring ourselves, she asked, “What will happen next?”  She thinks we really need to look at ways to combat cyber-terrorism.  Rosie P agreed with Laverne on one level but thinks it’s a complicated issue.  She said we need to take the threat somewhat seriously because people could have been hurt through a terrorist act on Christmas day.  What really angers her are the working class people who make the studio run who have been hurt by this act. Rosie O isn’t sure about her stance on the topic.  She was kind of happy they decided to cancel the film’s release even though she knows that’s giving in.  But at the same time, she doesn’t want to encourage anyone to attack us.

Nicolle worked in the White House on 9/11 and they encouraged people to travel on airplanes again and face down their fears.  And the people who were brave enough to get on airplanes again and go to baseball games and sporting events, helped keep the country going.  But as a mom now, Nicolle said she wouldn’t have taken her son to the movie theater and she respects Sony for not releasing the film.  Whoopi said it actually wasn’t Sony who took the film out of the theaters but it was Sony giving the theaters the option to not show the film.  The theaters didn’t want to be held liable if someone was hurt.  Whoopi hopes the film will end up on the Internet in some way so we can still see the film because, in America, we have freedom of expression.  Nicolle read Howard Stern’s comment from earlier in the week that compared this cyber-attack to the attack on 9/11.  Which at the time, she thought was ridiculous.  But now, she said, four days later, Newt Gingrich is basically agreeing with him.  He said, “No one should kid themselves.  With the Sony collapse, America has lost its first cyberwar.  This is a very, very dangerous precedent.”    Whoopi thinks we got taught a very valuable lesson.  Whoopi said freedom of expression is great but she’s not so sure she’d want another country making a movie joking about killing our president either.  Rosie P said experts have been warning us about these cyberattacks for a very long time and we need to learn how to prevent them.  Nicolle thinks this situation may create some new alliances amongst our leaders because it is an attack on what we hold most dear – our freedom of speech.

Treated Like the Help: In a recent People Magazine interview President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama open up about how they’ve dealt with their own racist experiences.  Michelle Obama revealed that on a trip to Target she was mistaken for someone who works there.  And people once mistook Barack Obama as the valet!  Rosie O said you would think people would recognize the president and the first lady, from television at least!  But, she continued, “racism still exists and that’s a fact of American history and life today.”  Laverne thought it was pretty incredible that people living in this country cannot recognize the president and the first lady.  She thinks it’s more of a commentary about how uneducated the American people are about who our leaders are.  Nicolle thought one of the most powerful speeches Obama ever gave was as a speech he gave about race as a candidate.  She said if you haven’t watched it, you should watch it on YouTube.  She said a lot of people feel the president hasn’t seized each opportunity he has had to lead a conversation about race in this country.  Laverne believes the president is damned if he does and damned if he doesn’t.  Whoopi said race only ever comes into play for other people.  She said black people have always been black and they just don’t think about it. She was frustrated that other people always want black people to address whether something is or isn’t racist.  She said she doesn’t know!  Rosie P pointed her finger at Whoopi and asked her, “You don’t think it’s racist if somebody turns to the leader of the free country and says, ‘Can you park my car.’?!”  Whoopi reminded Rosie P about the time Nicolle couldn’t tell the difference between her sister and her sister’s best friend in a photo.  She thinks that proves that white people can’t tell the difference between all white people either.  And that isn’t racism.  Whoopi said, “You need to know what real racism is.  Racism is when somebody comes up to you and says, ‘Nigger, I hope you die.’  That’s racism.”  She said it’s different when she goes into Brooks Brothers and they follow her around.  She doesn’t see that as racist, she simply sees that as ignorance.  Whoopi doesn’t believe it’s due to the color of her skin, it’s because the people who work there assume she doesn’t look like the type who has a lot of money.  She said it’s about “looking at people as an individual.”  Laverne disagreed.  She said store employees are following black people around in stores because of “implicit bias” due to pervasive ideas Americans have been taught about people of color.  Laverne thinks it’s definitely racist when black people are followed around at stores.  Whoopi does not agree.  She’s been black for almost 60 years and for her it’s simply stupidity, not racism.  Rosie P got very heated at that comment.  She said if she and Rosie O were to go to a store together they would follow her and not Rosie O!   She said when she and her sister Carmen were in San Antonio they stayed in an exclusive hotel.  One night they entered an exclusive VIP lounge at the hotel and as they walked in, the people there asked her sister Carmen to clean the table for them.  And Whoopi asked her if that act was “ridiculousness or racist?”  Rosie O said it’s racist and stupid.  And Rosie P said, “It’s both!”  Nicolle asked if Laverne, Rosie O and Rosie P think we live in a racist country.  Rosie O said, “Without a doubt.”  Nicolle said she doesn’t think a country that elects an African-American president twice is racist.  Rosie O said “we have a Congress that doesn’t allow him [our President] to do one thing!”   Whoopi said they need to remember who is in the Congress and that we elected those people too.  Rosie O said, “Democrats are racist too.  It’s our cultural history.”  Whoopi said, “You are a white lady telling me what is racist to you, and that’s fine.”  Rosie O replied, “I am a gay American, who has been called a dyke, I know what hatred and homophobia looks like.”  Whoopi said, “That’s not the same!”  Rosie O said she has helped raise a black child and that you don’t have to be black to know what racism is.  Whoopi said, “YES YOU DO.”   Laverne said there have been many white folks out there protesting with their black friends who see and understand that racism exists.  And Whoopi said her point is America is not just a racist country and she will not accept the blanket statement that America is racist.

Guests:

Katie Couric: Stephen Collins’ image was shattered after TMZ released audio of him admitting to some disturbing crimes of sexual abuse.  Yesterday, he broke his silence about the accusations to news anchor Katie Couric, who joined The View to give an exclusive sneak peek at her interview.  Katie said the recordings were released about two and a half months ago and there were a lot of rumors surrounding them.  Stephen said he wanted to give his version of the events.  He admits that there have been incidents in the past but he didn’t want to be approached by TMZ or paparazzi and asked about the tapes.  He wanted to sit down in a controlled environment and tell his story in order to say what happened.  They showed a clip from Katie’s interview where Stephen admits that in 1973 there were two occasions where he exposed himself to a young girl who was just 10-years-old at the time.  And several months later, she came to visit their family.  After his wife went to sleep, he took the little girl’s hand and moved it so she was “touching him inappropriately.”  He said he knew he was doing something “unthinkably wrong.”  Katie said there were 3 victims and 5 separate occasions, spaced over the course of three decades.  He admits he had a problem but insists those were the only times it has ever happened.  In 1994, Stephen started getting therapy, did a confession at the Episcopal church, attended workshops in a therapeutic setting, and continues therapy today.  He insists those were the only times any abuse has ever happened and that it has not happened since 1994.  They discussed why his wife decided to tape the therapy sessions and Katie thinks perhaps she worried he was a danger to other children and therefore wanted to make it public.  Collins told Katie he didn’t really want to focus on the tapes themselves but on what he did so he could apologize.   He’s not hopeful this will rehabilitate his image, she said.  Stephen has been dropped from Ted 2 and Scandal but she thinks he came forward because he felt trapped and wanted to tell his side of the story.  Katie Couric’s interview with Steven Collins will stream on Yahoo Global and broadcast on ABC’s 20/20 this Friday, December 19th, at 10pm EST.

Nicki Minaj:  The most successful female rapper of all time and one of the biggest music superstars, Nicki Minaj, sat down with the ladies of The View to discuss her new album The Pinkprint and her European tour!    Nicki said she feels at peace, blessed and grateful about her life and career these past few years.  When Nicolle asked Nicki about her style she said she actually doesn’t like getting dressed up and would rather wear jeans and a Santa sweater (like Nicolle) if she’s sure she won’t see anyone.  Rosie P told Nicki how proud she was of her and all of her sucess.  She loves her bravery and how she embraces her sexuality because, she told her, “as women, we have that right.”  And she loves the name of her new album The Pinkprint.  Nicki said she felt like she owed it to her fans who have followed her career for the last few years, to strip off another layer off herself and show them more of who she really is.  She needed people to see she was more than the wigs and the crazy outfits and that she is a regular woman going through regular things like relationships and heartbreaks.  Nicki said the album is a lot more mature than her first two.  She said it’s still fun but very real too.  Nicki said she was inspired to name her album because of Jay-Z’s album The Blueprint.  She wanted her album to be a staple in hip hop culture where the raps are “on point” and also because she’s known for the color pink.  She’s about to start a European tour with Trey Songz starting in March of 2015.  She’s done a world tour before but this one is exciting for her because she gets to perform these particular songs for her fans.  She said seeing the faces of her fans makes her “feel alive.”  Her video Anaconda has over 300 million views on YouTube!  She didn’t know the song Anaconda would become a pop hit like it has.  She just wanted to embrace curvy girls and then she said the song just took on a life of its own.  You can purchase The Pinkprint on iTunes now!

Our Fab Finds Under $50:  The ladies of The View each showed the audience the gifts they love for under $50 each!  Whoopi’s favorite gifts were The Magic Light Wand, Tigerbear Republik Beastie Besties flats and Garnet Hill character hats.  Nicolle’s favorite gifts were Edward Marc Chocolates, Dogeared Jewelry and monogrammed candles.  Rosie P’s favorite gifts were stemless goose neck personalized wine sets, personalized bakeware, and chalk talk mugs.  Rosie O’s favorite gifts were 100 Good Deed Bracelets, a World Munny and Joni Mitchell’s “Love Has Many Faces” box set.  Laverne’s favorite gifts were the games Catch Phrase Decades, Taboo Buzz’d and Trivial Pursuit Hints.   The audience went home with one of everything!!!

The Rosies enjoying A glass of wine!

See The View:
Rosie O will be on The Late Show with David Letterman TONIGHT!
Tomorrow (12/19) Whoopi will be reading The Night Before Christmas at the New York Philharmonic!

Audience Giveaway: Everyone in the studio audience received a copy of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on Blu-ray, a copy of Nicki Minaj’s new album The Pinkprint and one of each of the items in the Our Fab Finds Under $50 segment!  Score!

Take a little time to enjoy The View.

written by Kelly Weist
KidRo Productions