Rachel Bilson Responds After Whoopi Goldberg Criticizes Her Hot Take on Men’s Sex Lives

It's take two on Rachel Bilson's latest opinion.

The O.C. star is sharing her new viewpoint after Whoopi Goldberg called out her controversial stance on men's body counts.

The issue came up when Bilson shared how she would feel if she were to find out a potential boyfriend lacked sexual experience while speaking on the Oct. 2 episode of her Broad Ideas podcast.

"If it's really low, at this day and age, you'd be like, 'It's a little weird,'" Bilson said. "This is going to sound so judgmental, but if a dude's, like, in his 40s and he's, like, slept with, like, four women. But it all depends. Maybe he's been in, like, decade[-long] relationships."

She added, "It's not fair for me to say either way."

But Goldberg didn't hold back from sharing her opinion on Bilson's comments during the Oct. 5 episode of The View.

"I'm sorry, I think it's very odd that you're concerned that he's had sexual partners—any sexual partners. Why is it your business?" she said during a Hot Topics segment. "Listen, men, traditionally, were taught to have many sexual partners."

The Color Purple actress continued, "That's how it was. Men could go and do whatever they wanted to do, and women were not supposed to." 

However, Goldberg noted that, these days, the tables have turned.

"Now that has been shifting, and young women have been bitching about, you know, 'Why are you telling me what I should be [doing?],'" the 67-year-old continued. "Now, it's happening, and you're mad. I don't understand."

Bilson is now clarifying what she meant and addressing the Sister Act star's claims.

"I want to say that I've been a fan of Whoopi's for a very long time, so when I saw the tagline that she criticized something I said, I of course was concerned," she told Entertainment Weekly Oct. 5. "We make it a very safe, open place to discuss anything, and we were just talking. I have the power to edit our podcast, and I chose to keep the conversation as a whole in, because a lot of the time in life, you say something, and maybe you have a minute and you reflect on it."

Bilson explained that after sharing her initial thoughts on the podcast, she took a moment to reflect and ultimately realized it's not her place to dissect a person's sex life. 

"The point I get across is that it doesn't matter, and maybe in the past I would've looked at it [judgmentally], but I wouldn't do that anymore," the 42-year-old confessed. "I made it clear that I don't want to sound judgmental, it was important that that point get across, not what I said initially."

The Hart of Dixie actress now hopes she can clear up any confusion listeners might have.

"It was a flippant comment that I was just talking with friends, and then I retracted it, because even talking about it now, I'm like, I don't actually believe that," Bilson admitted. "That's why I think it's important to stand up for it and clarify."

Keep scrolling for all of Rachel's most NSFW confessions...

Rachel Bilson wasn't afraid to make a shocking revelation about her sex life during a March 2023 episode of her Broad Ideas podcast, confessing that she had never experienced an orgasm from sexual intercourse until she was well into her 30s.

The reveal came after The O.C. star's guest Whitney Cummings shared that her sex drive had increased since going off birth control. "I have not had an orgasm from sex until I went off birth control," Cummings said. "Never had it in my life until I turned 40, but I could do it with my hands."

Bilson, 41, related to Cummings' experience, admitting that she didn't experience an orgasm until she was 38. "Isn't that crazy?"

Rachel⁠ also noted that she had previously gotten it done on her own, but "not with, like, dick inside."

Bilson continued to dish out bedroom confessions when she revealed her go-to sex position in a May 2023 episode of the Women On Top podcast.

"I've learned that if you want to have an orgasm during sex, you have to be on top," Bilson shared. "Missionary is my favorite. I want to be f--king manhandled."

The Jumper actress went on to reveal the position she tries to avoid is doggy style, with Bilson explaining that it depends on "the actual dick" because "it can go so deep and hurt."

Shortly after sharing her thoughts on sexual positions, Bilson revealed during the May 15 episode of Broad Ideas that she suffered professional fallout from her candid conversation.

"This is the first time it's ever happened to me in my professional life that I lost a job this week because of things that were said," she explained, "I basically got a job, that I already had, pulled from me because I was speaking openly about sex."

Noting she was "floored" by the move, Bilson admitted losing the opportunity "sucks," but she didn't regret anything she shared.

"I haven't said anything inappropriate," she stressed. "Choice of language, if I could go back, now knowing I lost a job, maybe I would say it differently. But I still wouldn't not say it."

When asked what she missed most about ex-boyfriend Bill Hader, who she dated from late 2019 to the summer of 2020, Bilson made quite the large revelation.

"His big dick!" she quipped on her podcast's Aug. 15 episode, before adding to her producers, "You can keep that. Oh, that's funny."

While some stars try to keep details of their love life private, Bilson's never been one to shy away from talking about her romantic interests on her podcast.

In a June 2022 episode, the Hart of Dixie alum told her guest Aubrey Plaza that she and Hader had previously dated, which was a revelation to The White Lotus star despite the fact that the three actors had co-starred in the 2013 comedy The To-Do List. Bilson's response? "I went with him to the f--king Golden Globes."

During her intimate chat with Mandy Moore in a June 2022 episode of Broad Ideas, Bilson—who shares daughter Briar Rose Christensen, 8, with ex Hayden Christensen—opened up about "a really hard breakup" she endured during the pandemic without naming names. 

"I could not leave my house, you know what I mean?" she shared. "I had nothing else to do but sit in it, and deal with it and feel it. It was probably the hardest thing I've ever done⁠, harder than childbirth."

While Bilson added that the split "hurt like a motherf--ker," she explained that facing the breakup helped her move on. "You can come out of it and be like, 'Okay, I did that and I'm ready for the next thing.'"

While The O.C. fans were watching the love triangle play out between Summer, Seth (Adam Brody) and Anna (Samaire Armstrong) during the Fox teen hit's first season, Bilson revealed that there was romantic drama going down behind the scenes among the trio.

On the Welcome to The O.C., Bitches! rewatch podcast, she admitted she was "a little jealous" when Brody and Armstrong kissed in an early episode. 

"It was like the real-life triangle playing out as I'm watching it," Bilson, who dated Brody for several years before they broke up in 2007, recalled. "I feel like it definitely played out a little bit in real life for a minute, even though not really really. But I remember the tension with Samaire and I, like, a little bit."

Given that her mother Janice is a sex therapist, Bilson has always had a comfort level with discussions others may find uncomfortable. 

"Growing up in a household that was so sex-positive and free and candid...definitely made me more obviously open talking about things," she told Yahoo! Life's The Unwind series in July. "These are the things women go through, and there's nothing connected to it that feels like, 'Oh, I shouldn't be talking about this."

And it's why Bilson launched the Broad Ideas podcast with her best friend of 25 years, Olivia Allen, in 2022. On the show, she welcomes a variety of guests to discuss a range of broad topics, including sex, infidelity, and mental health, free of filters or fake niceties.

"I'm a little more unhinged, but it's nice to be able to feel free with it," Bilson told E! News at the time. "Authentic is the better word and I think people are craving it more than ever."

Explaining she wanted to provide a "safe space" for women to share their experiences, Bilson said she wanted the podcast to feel similar to a weekly hangout with "true friends" that don't judge one another. 

"It's just having these soul sisters that you can go through everything with that have been there through everything and will never judge you," she said. "It just felt like my best friends and I are always having these conversations, why not make that the norm?"

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