Whoopi Goldberg walks out of talk show

The Oscar-winning actress and co-host Joy Behar walked off the set of The View earlier today after a row with Fox News host Bill O’Reilly.

During a discussion about the controversial plans to build a mosque close to the Ground Zero site in New York, O’Reilly claimed “a lot of the 9/11 families” disapproved of the project going ahead.

When pressed by Goldberg and Behar as to why he thought the mosque should not be built, O’Reilly said: “Because Muslims killed us on 9/11.”

Behar immediately took him to task about his comments, before getting up and saying, “I’m outraged at what you just said” as she walked off the set of the daytime show with a visibly angry Goldberg.

As the pair walked off, co-host Barbara Walters tried to calm the situation.

She told the studio audience: “You have just seen what should not happen. We should be able to have discussions without washing our hands, and screaming and walking off stage.

“I love my colleagues, but that should not have happened.”

The two women returned five minutes later to hear O’Reilly clarify he had not meant to infer that the Muslim faith was responsible for 9/11, but that Muslim extremists were.