Rachel Bilson Reflects on Feud With Whoopi Goldberg Over Men’s Sex Lives

Rachel Bilson's to do list includes serving the holiday tea. 

The O.C. star shared how she really feels about Whoopi Goldberg criticizing her comments on men's body counts, noting that the situation "almost felt like shaming in a weird way." 

"I normally don't respond when I get called out for things," Bilson said on Bill Maher's Club Random podcast. "But then again it's like, ‘Alright, well, if you're talking about my podcast and I said something, let me respond. Because it's just going to bring more people to maybe hear the conversation in the first place.'"

After Maher joked that the actress "should be sending them a fruit basket" for the extra publicity, Bilson quipped, "I should be sending Whoopi a f--king Christmas present is what I should be doing!"

Back in October, Bilson revealed that she feels "judgmental" toward men who have only been with a few sexual partners, noting on her Broad Ideas podcast, "If it's really low, at this day and age, you'd be like, 'It's a little weird.'" 

But Goldberg disagreed.

"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 on The View at the time. "Listen, men, traditionally, were taught to have many sexual partners."

Goldberg explained that men have been encouraged to sleep around, but women were previously held to stricter standards.

"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 68-year-old continued. "Now, it's happening, and you're mad. I don't understand."

At the time, Bilson said she was "concerned" by the TV star's reaction to her hot take.

"We make it a very safe, open place to discuss anything, and we were just talking," she told Entertainment Weekly Oct. 5. "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."

For more of Bilson's NSFW confessions, read on. 

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?"