“We hope that everyone watching is safe,” Whoopi Goldberg said at the top of Monday’s broadcast.

Haunting image on* The View* as show airs rare broadcast without live studio audience amid state of emergency

"We hope that everyone watching is safe," Whoopi Goldberg said at the top of Monday's broadcast.

Joey Nolfi is a senior writer at *. *Since 2016, his work at EW includes *RuPaul's Drag Race* video interviews, Oscars predictions, and more.

EW's editorial guidelines

January 26, 2026 1:30 p.m. ET

Leave a Comment

Whoopi Goldberg greets studio of empty chairs at 'The View'. Credit:

- *The View* aired a rare live broadcast without a studio audience.

- Whoopi Goldberg pointed out that there was no crowd Monday morning amid a state of emergency in New York City.

- "We hope that everyone watching is safe from the storm that walloped a lot of the country this weekend," Goldberg said.**

In a rare move that led to a series of haunting images on Monday's episode of *The View*, the show mounted a rare broadcast without a live studio audience amid a state of emergency in New York City.

At the top of the latest live edition of the talk show, cohosts Whoopi Goldberg, Sunny Hostin, Sara Haines, Ana Navarro, and Alyssa Farah Griffin walked out to set, with some waving to an empty set of audience risers with no one in them.

"Hello, hello, and welcome to *The View*, y'all," Goldberg said as she took her seat in the moderator chair, before addressing the lack of studio audience members in the room.

'The View' cohosts go without an audience due to state of emergency in New York City.

"I have to tell you, we hope that everyone watching is safe from the storm that walloped a lot of the country this weekend," the 70-year-old said, adding, "So, we actually have no audience today."

Goldberg cited the state of emergency previously declared by Gov. Kathy Hochul, as New York City was pummeled with several inches of snow amid a major storm that swept the country over the weekend.

Joy Behar wants Oscar winners to give 'Oscar to Trump' so he 'doesn't invade Finland'

White House slams 'View' stars as 'useful idiots' with 'no talent' (exclusive)

***Get your daily dose of entertainment news, celebrity updates, and what to watch with our EW Dispatch newsletter*.**

The *Ghost* actress joked about the fact that the only other people in the show's Manhattan-based studio were crew members, including producer Brian Teta, who was "running from side to side, screaming," as the star joked.

Goldberg also called out "our wonderful camera operators and all the folks that work on this show" who "are here giving us a lot of support" amid the inclement weather.

Whoopi Goldberg, Sara Haines, Ana Navarro, Sunny Hostin, and Alyssa Farah Griffin on 'The View'.

"We also want to say thank you to the clean up crews who've been working their behinds off to clear the roads, to clear the highways, to get stuff done so people can get back to work," the EGOT-winning performer continued, before getting to the day's Hot Topics — including the cohosts' impassioned condemnation of government officials over the shooting death of Minnesota nurse Alex Pretti.

Goldberg's address recalls a similar instance when the moderator greeted an audience of empty chairs during a March 2020 broadcast of the show, after the studio crowd was absent due to the rise of COVID ahead of the global pandemic.

"Well hello, hello, hello, ya'll!" Goldberg said at the top of the show as the camera panned toward the back of the set at the show's former studio home, revealing rows and rows of vacant chairs. "Welcome to *The View*!"

*The View* airs weekdays on ABC.

Original Article on Source

Source: “EW Talk”