Whoopi Goldberg, a veteran in the entertainment industry for four decades, has recently found solace in a peaceful retreat. She has acquired a vacation home on the serene Italian island of Sardinia.
"Lots of people just need some place they can go and just 'Aaaaaaaaah,'" she expressed. "The more I wrote about my mom, I thought, I would've loved to have given this to her. Same with my brother."
Goldberg has been reflecting on her late mother, Emma, and brother, Clyde, who are central figures in her latest memoir titled "Bits and Pieces: My Mother, My Brother, and Me," released this week.
In the memoir, she reminisces about her childhood as Caryn Johnson, growing up in a housing project in New York City's Chelsea neighborhood, portraying it as a rather idyllic time. "It was; I was very lucky," she shared. "For me it was a great time, to be able to have the freedom with a mother who really just said, 'Listen, you're going to have to figure some of this out for yourself. I can't give you all of the answers.'
Her mom was a teacher, and when the young Caryn dropped out of school, she made a pact with her mom to use the city's museums and libraries to keep learning. "You know, a lot of folks had two parents; I only had one," said Goldberg. "And that parent acted like 900 people, you know? She never made it about what we didn't have; she made it about what we did have, and how to celebrate that."
Goldberg started acting on stage, got to Broadway, and landed an Oscar nomination for her first major film role, "The Color Purple." For a period, it's said she became the highest-paid actress in Hollywood, with hits like "Sister Act."
She says her mom also had a talent for acting, like when Marlon Brando stopped by: "My mother would turn into the 'other Emma,'" Goldberg said. "She came in, and I got up specifically to say as she's coming towards us, 'Don't be freaked out. That is Marlon Brando sitting on the couch.' But I couldn't -- all I could say was, 'Hey, Ma, come meet Marlon Brando who came to visit us.' And she just went like: 'Mis-ter Bran-do.' Wait, wait, who are you?"
Patrick Swayze wanted her to play a psychic in "Ghost," for which Goldberg won an Oscar.
Add to that Oscar, two Emmys, a Grammy, and a Tony, making her one of just about 20 people with EGOT status.
Her book chronicles the start of her career, and does not hold back, detailing problems with drugs, going on welfare, and learning marriage is not for her, after three tries.
During the interview, Doane inquired, "Are you still in love with the idea of being in love, or that's just gone?"
"I think other people seem to sparkle when they're in love, and I like to see that," she said. "But for me, it's like, I sparkle when I'm not in love, which is kind of okay. And the older I get, the happier I am.
"And so just in case, and I'm directing this to folks who may want to write me on the internet, here's the deal: I know how cute I am. So, you don't have to tell me I'm not attractive enough to have a boyfriend. Because, shockingly, I've had many!"
"Are you always as confident as you seem?"
"I'm very confident," Goldberg said. "But I'm also confident in the fact that I make gigantic mistakes, and step in lots of poo along the way."
On "The View," the talk show she's co-hosted for 16 years, Goldberg made a remark about the Holocaust which she says was misunderstood. She apologized, but ABC suspended her for two weeks in 2022.
Doane asked, "When you look back at that Holocaust comment on 'The View,' the one that you were suspended for, do you regret that?"
"I find myself in a dilemma when it comes to responding to that," she mused, "as there are expectations for me to speak up. I've already expressed my thoughts, and as a result, I was suspended. I respected their decision. I respect everyone's perspective. If anyone is genuinely curious about what I said in full, they can look it up. However, I will not subject myself to that situation again."
She has been a vocal advocate on various issues for a long time, often using the show as a platform. However, in Sardinia, she can disconnect from the world. She immerses herself in audiobooks (she owns around 9,000 of them) and sometimes simply... relaxes.
Looking out over her peninsula, Doane inquired, "Oh my gosh, how do you ever leave?"
"Very reluctantly!" she chuckled.
She envisions spending six months a year in Sardinia. "I'm prepared to not be scrutinized as closely as I currently am," she expressed. "And I believe the further I distance myself from opinionated television, the easier it may become for a while."
At 68 years old and a great-grandmother, Whoopi Goldberg's pioneering journey has been marked by reinvention and perseverance. She describes herself as "a unique individual" and attributes her resilience to the lessons she learned from her mother in that two-bedroom apartment in New York. Her retreat in Sardinia is all the more remarkable because of it.
"It's situated at the tip of a peninsula," she remarked. "I mean, I come from the projects. And now I have a peninsula! This is a far cry from Chelsea!"
For more information:
- "Bits and Pieces: My Mother, My Brother, and Me" by Whoopi Goldberg (Blackstone), in Hardcover, eBook and Audio formats, available via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Bookshop.org
- Follow Whoopi Goldberg on Facebook and Instagram
