Whoopi Slams Somers Over Swayze Chemo Comment

Updated 3:56 PM EDT, Wed, Sep 23, 2009

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Whoopi Goldberg tore into Suzanne Somers for saying it was chemo, not cancer, that killed Patrick Swayze.

Whoopi Goldberg took aim at Suzanne Somers on Tuesday for comments she reportedly made about the late Patrick Swayze, claiming the actor's chemotherapy — and not his cancer — was what killed him.

"In case she doesn't know, Patrick did everything and went everywhere to try and stay healthy as long as he could," "The View" co-host said of her "Ghost" co-star on Wednesday's show.

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"That he's been gone a week and this statement came out is bad timing and bad taste and Suzanne, you know better," Whoopi continued. "And I'm not sure that's not what you meant to do, but you should have thought about it"

Somers came under fire last week for comments she made about Swayze in a new interview with Toronto's National Post.

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"They took this beautiful man and they basically put poison in him," Somers reportedly told National Post columnist Shinan Govani. "Why couldn't they have built him up nutritionally and gotten rid of the toxins in his body?"

Somers – a cancer survivor herself – responded to incident on her Web site.

"In a casual conversation at a private party (with someone who never identified himself as a reporter) at the Toronto Film Festival last week, I was asked about this beloved actor. It was never my intention to make an official statement about his passing," she wrote in a blog post. "I was not informed or aware I was being interviewed. I would never have been so insensitive as to offer a public statement so close to his untimely passing. I sincerely apologize if my comment has caused any additional pain to his family during this difficult time. I send my deepest condolences for their loss."

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