Whoopi Goldberg Has Unfinished Business

Long before authenticity became a brand, there was Whoopi Goldberg. A self-described weird kid from the New York projects who came up through experimental theater, conquered standup, became a movie star, and won an EGOT, Whoopi has somehow defined culture while refusing to conform to it. As a co-host of The View for nearly two decades, she’s been a stabilizing force on America’s most chaotic morning show. An author, activist, and entrepreneur, she has seemingly done it all. But as the 70-year-old told Jeremy O. Harris on a recent day off, she isn’t quite finished yet.

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THURSDAY 3:30 PM JAN. 8, 2026 NYC

JEREMY O. HARRIS: Hi, Whoopi.

WHOOPI GOLDBERG: Hey, baby. How are you?

HARRIS: I’m well. My mom is finishing my hair, so I’m just getting her to put it up and then I’m going to run out of the room.

GOLDBERG: No worries. Say hi to your mom for me.

HARRIS: Mom, Whoopi says hi.

MOM: Tell Whoopi I said hello.

HARRIS: She says hello. Where are you right now?

GOLDBERG: I’m in my office at my house. This is my Friday, so I’m really happy to not have to be talking about adult stuff.

HARRIS: There’s no View on Friday.

GOLDBERG: No.

HARRIS: What have you guys been talking about this week?

GOLDBERG: Name it.

HARRIS: Greenland.

GOLDBERG: Greenland. All the stuff that’s crossed your mind has crossed ours as well. It’s one of those things where on a daily basis you’ve got to take a deep breath and say, “Okay, ready.” Because it’s a lot and it doesn’t stop.

HARRIS: Are you enjoying the daily conversation? One of the things I’ve recognized in myself is that I’ve become very passive with the onslaught of horrors in the news. I think we must become more present. Do you feel like there’s something enriching about being present, or does it feel taxing?

GOLDBERG: You know what? It’s enriching, because if you’re not going to be present, you can’t bitch about what’s happening. [Laughs] I do this every day, and when I’m done, I shut it down until the next day. Then the next morning I get up and I think, “Oh, really? This too? Alright.” But I’ve got to keep a narrow lane for myself or I’ll lose my mind, and that’s what they want. They want us to stop paying attention, but they keep pushing people. They made a horrific mistake yesterday, and there’s too much evidence. They’ll continue to say, “This didn’t happen,” but it’s like the insurrection. Everybody saw it.

HARRIS: Well, now they’ve rewritten the website.

GOLDBERG: They can do that, but the truth of the matter is everyone watched it.

HARRIS: You’ve lived through so many different moments of progress, and you’ve had this wild existence within it. I feel very disappointed in my generation, that somehow a lot of the things people fought for got washed away, because in some ways, we didn’t fully show up. How do you feel about it?

GOLDBERG: When I was being raised, it was one for all and all for one. Everybody fought for everything. You fought for women’s rights, for gay rights, for Latin American rights. You fought to exist on equal footing here in the United States. What people weren’t prepared for is that this is an ongoing battle. They talk about “woke this and woke that.” Women, people of color, gay folks, we were never asleep. We’ve had to stay awake.

HARRIS: Exactly.

GOLDBERG: None of us were woke. They just woke up, but we’ve been up the whole time, watching their backs.

HARRIS: And then Mamdani becomes mayor and they’re like, “Woke is back.” I do think that swing comes from something like that, right?

GOLDBERG: Yes.

HARRIS: What has it been like to be at the center of so many different conversations for so long? In the ‘70s, there are photos of you on the frontlines, and then there are photos of you on the frontlines during the AIDS epidemic. When I was a little baby protestor against the Iraq war, you were there on TV. What would you say to young Whoopi about the fight?

GOLDBERG: If I don’t fight for you, I can’t ask you to fight for me. I’m fighting for your rights in the hopes that should I need you to fight for mine, you’ll be there. The shocker was that no one realized how angry folks were about having to share an equal balance. They were fine with it as long as you weren’t their equal. The discovery of that anger in people was a shock because I thought, “Wait a minute, we broke it down to you. We took the time to keep you informed.” What we didn’t know is you were just waiting for your moment in the sun to say, “We fooled you.”

HARRIS: “I’m good. Talk to you later.”

GOLDBERG: Yeah. And when you talk to people and you hear the way they talk about diversity— what is it, DIY?

HARRIS: Diversity, equality, and inclusion.

GOLDBERG: I’d rather see you wearing the hood so I know who you are, as opposed to you wearing a suit.

HARRIS: You and I are in a rare position of being Black people who— and you’re in an even rarer space, as a Black woman—have been able to walk into the halls of power and not just walk in, but stay there. And when you look at the amount of funny Black women that exist— my mom owns a hair salon. I see funny Black women all the time.

GOLDBERG: Yes!

HARRIS: My friend Janicza Bravo just got nominated for a DGA [Award] for directing an episode of The Bear with Ayo Edebiri. I was like, “How many Black women have been nominated for DGAs for directing comedies?” I think it’s just her and Ayo. There’s this sense that when we get in, they will open more doors for people that look like us, and yet there’s a pain I feel, and I wonder what you feel about it, that the minute I try to keep that door open for other boys that look like me, someone else says, “Why’s there so many of them?” And I look around, and I’m like, “So many? It’s just me!” [Laughs]

GOLDBERG: It’s like, “Where are you? What are you seeing? Maybe I should be living where you live because I don’t see this plethora of people you’re talking about.” And you say to people, “For the first hundred years we weren’t even thought of as people. We couldn’t participate.” So the fact that we’re saying, “He’s going to keep that door open so a couple more of us can get in, like y’all did and do, I don’t understand why it’s so hard. What is your fear?” In my mind, I think, “Are you afraid of an equal footing because you think I can outshine you, and that if I outshine you, there won’t be a place for you?” See, we look out for everybody because we want everybody to have the opportunity. You not looking out for everybody because you don’t want everybody to have the opportunity. That was the thing that surprised me. “You still freaked out, huh? Because we’re not going anywhere.”

HARRIS: Exactly.

GOLDBERG: You can rewrite as much history as you want, but as long as parents have kids, as long as there are people of every color here, we know our stories. So just because you take it off the plaque doesn’t mean it disappears. You can be Asian American, you can be Hispanic, but all of us tell stories. We all talk our stories because you thought telling people they couldn’t write would stop them from communicating.

HARRIS: You thought taking their culture away would stop that culture from existing. Meanwhile, it constantly got remixed and complicated, and that enriched the thing we had already.

GOLDBERG: Yes. And now everybody’s freaked out because there’s too many. You’re not sure who’s who, what’s what. Folks are like, “What the fuck happened here?”

HARRIS: Speaking of mixing, you’re one of the earliest EGOTs. You’re definitely the first one I knew of—someone who had an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony. You’ve done standup. And weren’t you one of the first Black women in a sci-fi series?

GOLDBERG: Nichelle Nichols, who did Star Trek, she was the first. That’s how I got the job [on Star Trek: The Next Generation], because I explained to [Star Trek creator] Gene Roddenberry, “Gene, I love sci-fi. But Lieutenant Uhura is the very first Black representation of us in the future. And not only is she representing us, but she’s not a mammy. She is svelte and beautiful.”

HARRIS: She’s sexy.

GOLDBERG: And a communications officer. You can’t talk to anybody until you’ve spoken to her. I said, “You have no idea what that did for me.” He said, “Whoopi, I don’t believe that.” I said, “Gene, look it up.” And so a week goes by and he calls me and says, “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I had no idea that I had created the first.” And then he said, “I’m going to create a character for you for Next Generation.” And that’s how I got in. Because I said to LeVar Burton, “What are you up to?” He said, “I’m getting ready to do this new Star Trek.” I was like, “What? I want to be in it.” He’s like, “I’ll tell him.”

HARRIS: LeVar was that for me. He was the first Black person I heard talk about books on television. Reading Rainbow was a radical thing for a little Black boy who loved reading, because I would’ve been discouraged by the way I was socialized—reading was for girls, reading was for white people. He was the one who was like, “No, reading’s for everyone.”

GOLDBERG: Yeah. The fact that he will read this, that this is what you said—because this has always been his thing.

HARRIS: I brought up the sci-fi thing because you’ve been at the height of so many industries, and I wonder what is that engine for you? Is it boredom? Do you just not say no?

GOLDBERG: You know what it is? I’m interested in a lot of things. For years I’ve been trying to get somebody to write me a horror movie. I want to be the monster.

HARRIS: That’s amazing.

GOLDBERG: Not the slasher because there are real slashers. I want to be the thing under the bed, and you are not thinking that it’s me because I’m so sweet. I’m Whoopi, but it’s Whoopi knocking people off left and right. [Laughs]

HARRIS: Oh, my god.

GOLDBERG: I love the idea of being around people who create things. I want to create a rollercoaster.

HARRIS: What’s the name of your rollercoaster?

GOLDBERG: “Whoops!”

HARRIS: Ooh! That’s a good one.

GOLDBERG: There are a zillion things I’m interested in.

HARRIS: Do you ever feel like revisiting certain things, like standup, for example?

GOLDBERG: I think I’m too angry for it. I can either talk about stuff in a reasonable way, or I could really go off. I can’t do both. But standup has become rather dangerous these days for lots of people. If you’re going to run up on me, I don’t want you to run up on me on a stage. If you’re going to do it, let’s just fight it out.

HARRIS: I asked partially because I was talking about you with a couple of women I really respect. I asked them, “What are your questions?” And one question that really stuck with me was from Ayo Edebiri, who asked, “Are there any young comics you’re looking at, or are you more interested in music now than comedy?” Is there something else that is drawing your eye to a new generation?

GOLDBERG: It’s horror movies, it’s the women I see. I’ve started to look at stuff on Instagram, but when the screen is only this big I lose interest. I was trying to figure out why I don’t listen to much music, and it’s because I don’t have any way to play it. I don’t want to play it on my computer. I know this is really old-ass, but I miss a Walkman. I miss a tape. I’m trying to fall in love with the internet, but I’m not a big fan of it.

HARRIS: The internet’s a big fan of you, though.

GOLDBERG: It is. I love seeing stuff, but now I’m not sure about what I’m seeing because I don’t know if it’s AI-generated. It’s not a great place to be.

HARRIS: It’s really frightening. I look at my niece and nephew, and not only do they not know what’s real or what’s not, but they also don’t really know their taste, because there is no analog version of an algorithm. The algorithm says, “You like mukbang videos and you’re eight? We’re going to give you every single one.” So this Christmas, we had a really fun thing where I told them, “No phones. I’m buying you a bunch of these books.” And now my nephew is obsessed with this weird Japanese manga I got him that he would’ve never found. You have to work so much harder to introduce a new generation to things.

GOLDBERG: They’re not programmed for possibilities. They’re programmed to know one thing.

HARRIS: One thing I’d be remiss if I didn’t ask you is, you’ve had so many dynamic love stories that we’ve witnessed or thought we’ve witnessed. Who is the partner that when you close your eyes, still awakens something in you?

GOLDBERG: Nobody. [Laughs] They were all great at the time, but in the last 25 years, I recognized that not everybody’s cut out to be in a relationship. Some people are just cut out to be one-night stands. I don’t want to live with anybody. I lived with my daughter. That’s all I can handle. I have lots of people that I love, but I don’t need them living with me. I don’t need to be sleeping with them.

HARRIS: I love that.

GOLDBERG: Yeah. I’m not good at relationships because you have to think about other people, and I have enough to think about with my daughter and her husband and my grandkids and my great-grandkids and all the people at work.

HARRIS: Compulsory cohabitation is something we need to examine more as a culture. There are more people than we think who should explore solo living, because there might be some richer relationships that come from that.

GOLDBERG: It teaches you several things. Being lonely and being alone are two different things. I don’t necessarily get lonely because there’s enough people around who don’t let me. But most people are not comfortable being alone because we’ve been taught that there’s something wrong with you if you’re not a pair, that being singular, eating singular, is a bad thing. Sometimes you don’t want to eat with other people. Sometimes you just want to go and have some pasta. You don’t want to say, “Do you want red wine or white wine?” I don’t give a fuck what you want.

HARRIS: [Laughs]

GOLDBERG: We’re not great at partnerships. There are some people who are brilliant at it, but I think we walk into relationships with a lie and say, “I’m not trying to change you.” But in fact, you are trying to change them. I’d rather you say, “Listen, I don’t know if I could be true to you. I think I might need more than one person in my life.” I’d rather hear you tell me that so I can make the decision.

HARRIS: I love that.

GOLDBERG: Yeah. I’m not good at relationships because you have to think about other people, and I have enough to think about with my daughter and her husband and my grandkids and my great-grandkids and all the people at work.

HARRIS: Compulsory cohabitation is something we need to examine more as a culture. There are more people than we think who should explore solo living, because there might be some richer relationships that come from that.

GOLDBERG: It teaches you several things. Being lonely and being alone are two different things. I don’t necessarily get lonely because there’s enough people around who don’t let me. But most people are not comfortable being alone because we’ve been taught that there’s something wrong with you if you’re not a pair, that being singular, eating singular, is a bad thing. Sometimes you don’t want to eat with other people. Sometimes you just want to go and have some pasta. You don’t want to say, “Do you want red wine or white wine?” I don’t give a fuck what you want.

HARRIS: [Laughs]

GOLDBERG: We’re not great at partnerships. There are some people who are brilliant at it, but I think we walk into relationships with a lie and say, “I’m not trying to change you.” But in fact, you are trying to change them. I’d rather you say, “Listen, I don’t know if I could be true to you. I think I might need more than one person in my life.” I’d rather hear you tell me that so I can make the decision.

HARRIS: There are certain things that are unchangeable about a person, and a lot of the things that are unchangeable are the things that just look like you. Oftentimes we’re trying to change people into some mirror, and the people who do that are those who should be alone the most.

GOLDBERG: I wrote a book all about this called If Someone Says “You Complete Me,” RUN!: Whoopi’s Big Book of Relationships. It starts out talking about how animals don’t just have one person. Then I talk about how we get sucker punched by love songs. We get sucker punched by movies. It’s hard to not want to be Prince Charming or a Disney princess because you think, “Well, that’s what I’m waiting for.” We don’t think, “Prince Charming has the flu this week and he’s on the can endlessly. Or Cinderella. ‘If she doesn’t stop getting that period, I’m going to lose my mind.’” She’s really cranky.

HARRIS: She doesn’t handle it well.

GOLDBERG: We don’t plan for those moments, and those are the times that are meaningful. Who’s with you when you look like shit and can’t put two sentences together?

HARRIS: Yeah. I want to make sure you have the rest of your day, as fun as this has been. When you ever need me on The View, I’d love to come and chat with you guys.

GOLDBERG: Tell me what you’re up to.

HARRIS: I’m in Spain, partially because the lead of my newest play is Amber Heard, so I came here to chat with her about us going to Broadway this season.

GOLDBERG: Excellent.

HARRIS: I’m writing a horror movie right now, so you got my brain going crazy.

GOLDBERG: Please think of me.

HARRIS: I’m also working on a book about what just happened when I was in Japan. I don’t know if you know this, but I got arrested.

GOLDBERG: No!

HARRIS: Yes. They found something in my bag, and you don’t get to talk to a lawyer for 23 days. They just put you in a cell and investigate you with no lawyer. I had to talk to them through a translator. It’s all crazy. I’m writing a book about that experience called Customs.

GOLDBERG: When the fuck did that happen?

HARRIS: The week before Thanksgiving and I got out December 8th.

GOLDBERG: What!?

HARRIS: Yeah. I do think it was an experience that rich white people would pay for because I lost 10 pounds, read 23 books, got off my phone, and detoxed from my internet addiction. It was kind of amazing.

GOLDBERG: I cannot wait to read that. Do a lot of people know this happened?

HARRIS: The first thing I said was, “These are not my drugs. This is an accident from a wedding. Drug test me.” They drug tested me and I was negative. And because my story didn’t change over 23 days, they couldn’t keep me. So in order to punish me, they put out a press release. It was in The New York Times. It’s a whole thing.

GOLDBERG: Oh my god.

HARRIS: Yeah. My mom was so scared. I was just working out every day and reading and doing the things I should have done during COVID, which was discover a new way of existing with my body. Because I’m 36 now. I can’t eat anything I want and drink every night and stay slim. And all of a sudden I was like, “Wait, I can still get a six-pack? I just have to stretch every morning? Cool.”

GOLDBERG: Yeah, you have to come on to the show to talk about it.

HARRIS: The essay comes out next week, so I’ll make sure you get it.

GOLDBERG: Yes, please.

HARRIS: Whoopi, I adore you. I’ll talk to you soon.

GOLDBERG: The feeling is mutual.

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Hair: Derick Monroe 

Makeup: Matin using Danessa Myricks Beauty and Spela Cosmetics at Tracey Mattingly Agency

Tailor: Matthew Neff

Digital Technician: Geoffrey Lung

Photography Assistants: Zach Helper and Daren Conui

Fashion Assistant: Alvin Kim

Production Director: Alexandra Weiss 

Photography Producer: Georgia Ford 

Production Interns: Ha Chu and Isaac James 

Post-production: Nikita Shaletin

Location: Contra Studios