Whoopi Goldberg Reacts To Prince Harry, Meghan's Paparazzi Car Chase: 'Doesn't Work In New York'

Whoopi Goldberg isn't convinced that Meghan Markle and Prince Harry were involved in what the couple's spokesperson described as a "near catastrophic" car chase with paparazzi in New York City.

The hosts of "The View" weighed in on the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's claim that numerous photographers pursued them Tuesday night after they left the 2023 Women of Vision Awards, where Markle received an award.

The EGOT winner made it known that she wasn't buying their claims.

"Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were followed by paparazzi while leaving the Ziegfeld Theatre. Their spokesperson called it a 'near-catastrophic car chase,'" Goldberg said on the show Thursday while making a face, Page Six reported.

"Others said it wasn't bad," she continued before adding, "but I think people in New York know if it was possible to have car chases in New York, we'd all make it to the theater on time."

Goldberg suggested that the Sussexes' rep seemed to be referencing something that would generally happen in Los Angeles, where high-speed car chases are more likely to happen, but not in New York City.

"We're dealing with aggressive paparazzi," she added. "It just doesn't work in New York."

Fellow panelist Joy Behar agreed with the "Sister Act" star that high-speed chases are not possible in the Big Apple.

"Sometimes I'm in the city, and I hear an ambulance trying to get through, and I think, 'That person is dead,'" she said.

However, co-host Sunny Hostin defended the Sussexes, pointing out that the couple never said it was a "high-speed" car chase. She also noted that Prince Harry's mother Princess Diana died in 1997 in a car accident involving the paparazzi.

"No one ever claimed that there was a high-speed chase, and I think when we think about chases, we think about high-speed chases," the 54-year-old lawyer said. "If they felt scared, I will grant them that. ... When you look at a situation like this, where his mother died of a catastrophic car chase and he knows that and [Markle] knows that, I wouldn't wanna be in a situation where e-bikes and sedans are sort of following me aggressively around the city."

GB News home and security editor Mark White also said that he found the circumstances surrounding the pursuit strange.

"I'm not trying in any way to belittle how awful it is to be pursued by ruthless freelance individuals like the paparazzi in L.A., whom we know there are multiple incidents where they come into contact with celebs that don't want their photograph taken," White said during an interview with GB News host Patrick Christys.

"It certainly sounds very strange that it would be in a taxi and that taxi driver would be driving for two hours being pursued relentlessly by the paparazzi."

The New York Police Department (NYPD) confirmed the outline of Prince Harry and Markle's account of the Tuesday incident, according to CNN.

Police said that "numerous" photographers made the Sussexes' transport "challenging" after the couple, who was joined by Markle's mother Doria Ragland, left New York City's Ziegfeld Ballroom to return to the apartment where they were staying. But authorities said there were no reported collisions, injuries or arrests.

Two people involved with Prince Harry and Markle's security told CNN that the incident was chaotic and that paparazzi followed them in various vehicles, including cars, scooters, mopeds and electrical bikes. The Sussexes had to switch cars during the chase and, at one point, got into a taxi.