The only time blackface has worked as comedy for the past half-century is when the character wearing it is being mocked as being clueless and thoughtless and casually racist – think Dwight Schrute (2000s) or Archie Bunker (1970s).
I’ll listen to Whoopi Goldberg’s opinion as an African-American woman with a lived experience that I don’t have, but also as a celebrity who (as is standard in the industry) frequently uses her platform in her own self-interest (e.g. defending a celebrity boyfriend or a dedicated fan of one of her characters).
