NEW ORLEANS, Feb. 29 (UPI) — Oprah Winfrey was nearly 2,000 miles away when a beauty company mistook Whoopi Goldberg for her at the 2016 Oscars.
The 62-year-old media mogul was watching the Academy Awards in her pajamas with friend and television personality Gayle King when Total Beauty confused her for Goldberg, who was at the ceremony.
Total Beauty tweeted a photo of Goldberg showing off her shoulder tattoo in a boatneck dress on the red carpet, writing, “We had no idea @Oprah was #tatted, and we love it…” The company has since deleted the post.
Winfrey responded by posing with an incredulous face in a photo King shared on Instagram. “@Oprah & favorite daughter watching #Oscars & seeing @totalbeautyeditors snafu! We all love @whoopigoldberg but we don’t all look alike jeeeze!” she wrote.
Total Beauty apologized for the mistake and will donate $10,000 to Winfrey and Goldberg’s charity of choice. The company came under heavy fire on social media, where many were already concerned about the Oscar’s lack of diversity in nominations.
“We’d like to apologize to Oprah and Whoopi, as well as everyone we’ve offended. It was our error, and there are no excuses. We’re sorry,” the company tweeted. “Using this #Oscars #SNAFU as an opportunity to donate $10k to @whoopigoldberg & @oprah’s charity of choice. #ThatsNotOprah #WeMeanIt.”
Goldberg has yet to respond to the mix-up, but made headlines for helping host Chris Rock parody the #OscarsSoWhite controversy at the ceremony. The pair inserted themselves into Joy and The Martian, both of which feature white nominees.
