Hot Topics:

• Whoopi spent the weekend in Las Vegas celebrating her birthday, though she joked she doesn’t remember all of it!  She also got to see her great-granddaughter Charlie Rosie, whom she adores.  Despite the fact that Whoopi’s granddaughter was very young when she had her baby, Whoopi said she has turned out to be a phenomenal mother.
• Billy Cosby Rape Accusations: The ladies sat down to discuss the multiple rape allegations against Bill Cosby that have been raised again in the media.  Cosby and his representatives are not commenting on the topic, however.  Rosie O said it all started to come to light again when a comedian has been calling Cosby a rapist in his standup set.  He also went on Howard Stern to talk about it.  Rosie P said whether or not the allegations are true, the venom the public has on social media about the topic shocks her.  She said it’s like you’re guilty until proven innocent.  She thinks if the allegations are true she hopes the women have their day in court and he’s punished accordingly.  But she said if it’s not true, a lot of people are rushing to judgment.    Rosie O pointed out that there has already been a settlement with the accuser and the statute of limitations is over so these women will never see their day in court to prove the allegations.  Whoopi has been accused of things that weren’t true in the past.  She thinks the truth doesn’t really matter anymore because people have it in their head and they’re going to believe what they want to believe.  She hopes the accuser comes on the show to talk about the accusations.  Whoopi wondered why she didn’t go to the hospital and have a rape kit performed.  Rosie O has had friends who’ve had to go to the hospital to have a rape kit performed and she said it is a very traumatic thing for women to do.  And she pointed out that 13 OTHER WOMEN have also come forward accusing Cosby of the same crime.  Whoopi said just because a settlement was issued for the women doesn’t mean he’s necessarily guilty of the crime.  She said oftentimes people will “settle” because they don’t want to have the incident continue to live on and they don’t want to put their family through the trauma of a trial.  She really hopes someone gets to the bottom of it and said she still has a lot of questions so she’s going to reserve judgment.  Nicolle thinks it’s a tragedy either way.   She said either 13 women were raped by someone too powerful to face the full weight of the criminal justice system, which is horrible, or an innocent man is being falsely accused, which is also horrible.  She hates being part of the conversation about it because they don’t know the answers and it’s devastating either way.  Rosie O said when you’re a famous person and you’re friends with a famous person who’s being falsely accused, it’s a very awkward position to be in.  She was close with Paula Poundstone when she was accused of child abuse and Kevin Clash, the voice of Elmo, when he was accused of sexual abuse.  She said it leaves you in a very awkward and difficult position.  Rosie O asked Whoopi if she’s ever been accused of a crime and she said she has!  Whoopi said people can go out and google it if they want her past and Nicolle said “google sucks.” And Whoopi’s had friends who’ve been accused of a lot of things.  She said when a person accuses a famous person of a crime it opens the door for a lot of people to jump on the bandwagon. Whoopi said they’re going to have to wait and find out what happens.
• Parker’s Photos: Rosie O said her son Parker was home this weekend and told her he’s declared his major in college which will be photography. She asked him where she can see his photos and he told her he has a link to them on Twitter.  Rosie O said he has her BLOCKED from his Twitter and he said that’s because he doesn’t want everyone to know who his mom is.  And then she pulled up his Twitter profile photo and it’s a picture of Parker and Whoopi!  Rosie O said she’s FINE about that, she’s FINE that it’s a photo of Whoopi and Parker and she’s not in it.  She’s FINE.  Whoopi laughed and said Rosie O has done a great job with Parker and he’s a great young man.  Follow Parker on Twitter here and check out the photography major’s photos here!
• No Shopping on Thanksgiving:  More and more retail chains are opening their doors on Thanksgiving for holiday shopping and a daughter is petitioning Kmart so her mother doesn’t have to work on the holiday.  All the ladies thought people should have the holiday off if they would like it off.  Nicolle used to be a local TV reporter and she said she used to have the option whether to work or not.  She said it was the same thing when she worked at the White House.  She said with online commerce the way it is today she doesn’t think stores should be open.  Whoopi agreed and thought stores should just be opened late the night before.  She thinks time with your family is more important.   Rosie P said it used to be so romantic to walk the silent streets of New York City during the holidays.  She wished it was the same today.  Whoopi wants stores to give us back the holidays!  Rosie O said the holidays was always an interesting time for her because after her mom died they really didn’t have Thanksgiving at their house.  They always went to neighbor’s houses on Thanksgiving.  She said that always made her sad so she would go to the movies and see every movie in the Commack multiplex.  Speaking of Commack, her high school just won the State Championship!  Congrats boys!  Whoopi carries on the tradition of cooking the turkey all night for her loved ones and any strays that may wander in for dinner.  She said she’d invite the audience, but didn’t have enough food.
• Raising a Glass to Get Stuff Done: Obama said he’s going to raise a glass of bourbon with Mitch McConnell in the Bourbon Summit.  They showed the SNL spoof on the topic.  Nicolle thinks bourbon could make the conversation between the political parties a lot better!  Rose P hoped the bourbon helps and they can get some things settled especially issues surrounding immigration.  She also thinks the Democrats shot themselves in the foot when they didn’t vote in the most recent election.  Rosie P said “Throw it back. Get things done. Let’s do it. Let’s party!”  Nicolle thinks if they drank together more often things would be much better in politics.  Whoopi said if a drink does it that’s fine but she suggests they might want to go “another way.”
• Questionable Discipline:  Chef Jamie Oliver admits to disciplining his 12 year old child by forcing them to eat  hot chili peppers.  Nicolle thinks doing that is just as cruel as hitting the child.  She thought it was a terrible way to discipline your kid.  Rosie P thought it was cruel as well.  She used to be a thumb-sucker and she still remembers the nuns putting hot sauce on her thumb so she wouldn’t suck it.  But it never worked and now she LIVES for hot sauce!  Rosie O was totally against the punishment “in every capacity.”  Whoopi said her mother didn’t need chili peppers because she had eyeballs and all she’d have to do was give you “the look!”
• The Other Side of Fame: There’s a recent article out discussing the other side of fame and how it’s affected a boy named Alex whose photo at Target went viral.  The article says it wasn’t long before he was starting to get death threats.  No one on the panel understood it.  Rosie P wondered why anyone would be threatening the 16 year old.  It didn’t make any sense to her at all.  Rosie O felt badly for the young man.  She said maybe it comes from a place of jealousy because he’s now famous and people are saying he doesn’t deserve it.  The whole topic made Whoopi upset with our society in general.  She thought it was completely crazy that anonymous people would just start threatening him for no reason.
• Running Out Of Chocolate:  The world’s biggest chocolate maker is saying we’re running out of chocolate!  Whoopi, Nicolle and Rosie P were all very concerned!  Nicolle and Rosie P said they must have eaten it all and they apologized.  Rosie O said forget about global warming, we should just focus on chocolate!

Guests:

Steve Harvey:  The hilarious Steve Harvey joined the ladies of The View to discuss his role on the game show Family Feud, his daytime talk show and best-selling books!  He chatted with the ladies about his beautiful wife, some of the hilarious moments he’s had on Family Feud and how his talk show is headed to Florida to do a Mr. Florida pageant with 7 eligible bachelors.  They played a fun game called the “Love Lightning Round” where Steve had to quickly answer the ladies questions about love and relationships.  Steve’s talk show airs weekdays, check your local listings.

Brooke Shields: Brooke Shields joined the ladies to discuss her new book about her manager mom, Teri Shields.  In  There Was a Little Girl: The Real Story of My Mother and Me, Brooke discusses her sometimes rocky relationship with her mother.  She discussed her mom’s struggles with alcoholism and low self-esteem and said her mom was a complicated woman and they had a complicated relationship, as most mothers and daughters do.  She said she wrote the book because she wanted people to see both sides of her.  She talked a little bit about the movies she’s done, her controversial Calvin Klein commercials, and what it was like being born into the spotlight.

Brooke Shields and the ladies of The View! (photo credit The View)

Audience Giveaway: Everyone in the studio audience received a copy of Brooke Shields’ new book!

Quoteables:

Whoopi: “I raised a bunch of party animals.”

Nicolle: [regarding people digging up your past on the internet] “Google sucks.”

Rosie P: [regarding Obama and McConnell drinking together at the Bourbon Summit]“Throw it back. Get things done. Let’s do it Let’s party!”

Rosie O: “Forget about global warming, we should just focus on chocolate!”