Whoopi Goldberg is once again absent from “The View” after testing positive for COVID-19. Joy Behar, who steps in as moderator every Friday, began Thursday’s live show with an update on Goldberg’s health. “You might have noticed Whoopi is not here because Whoopi has tested positive for COVID,” Behar announced. “You know, it’s going around, still. So, you have to be careful!”
Sunny Hostin, a legal expert and cohost, added that Goldberg, 68, contracted the virus as part of “a summer surge,” and speculated that a new booster shot for the coronavirus vaccine would be available later this year. Representatives for “The View” and Goldberg’s publicist have been contacted for further comment.
Goldberg has had to temporarily vacate her post at “The View” several times in the past due to health issues, including in September 2023 when she missed the show’s season 27 premiere after testing positive for COVID. Despite the diagnosis, Goldberg remained in good spirits. “Hey, in spite of everything you’ve heard, and let me just make sure that you know it’s actually me,” Goldberg said, lowering her face mask in a video clip that played at the beginning of the season 27 premiere. “See, it’s me. I am not at Burning Man. I’m not still in Italy, I’m not doing stuff, I’m not trying to change the outcome of the election — I just, I have COVID. I just have COVID.”
“The View” airs weekdays at 11 a.m. ET/PT on ABC.
In another instance, Goldberg’s absence from “The View” was explained through her Instagram stories, where she revealed she had been traveling to Rome and Vatican City. “This is very exciting. I’m not really saying what we’re doing yet because I want to savor this experience,” she said. “I think I forgot to mention, I met the Pope today. It was pretty remarkable.”
Her fellow co-hosts have been tight-lipped about her activities during her travels. Joy Behar shared that Goldberg has been absent to work on a mysterious project, which is scheduled to premiere on “The View” on Monday, Oct. 16. Goldberg teased one possible project she could be working on in the holy place – the highly anticipated third “Sister Act” film. “Maybe, since you’re seeing everything, you’re figuring out what I’m doing here, but picture ‘Sister Act’ and all the nuns standing here, waiting for the Pope to come out,” she said. “Maybe that’s going to happen in the new movie. You don’t know. You never know, but we are in Rome, and I am in Vatican City. What could I be doing? Why could I be here? We’ll find out.”
Disney greenlit “Sister Act 3” in December 2020, with Tyler Perry attached to co-produce. Keke Palmer even expressed interest in having a role in the movie. Perry later gave a major update on the movie in 2022 when he appeared on “The View.” “I love the idea of us making this happen but you know, the Hollywood system moves a little slower than I’d like to,” he said. “So we’ve got a good script. We’re off to a great start. We’re just trying to get everybody moving in the right direction so we can get it going.”
Kathy Najimy, who starred in the original “Sister Act” films, is also set to reprise her role. Perhaps the ladies of “The View” might get their own roles too!
While sharing an update on her cohost’s health, Joy Behar promised: “She’ll be back next week. She’ll be back.”
Goldberg has taken several days off from moderating “The View” this week due to a bout with a nasty illness. “Whoopi’s still out sick today. She’s got a bad virus of some sort,” Behar said at the top of Thursday’s broadcast, which marked the third consecutive day Goldberg missed out on the program. “She’ll be back next week. She’ll be back.”
Behar previously discussed Goldberg’s health on Wednesday’s episode, announcing that “Whoopi is still out, coughing up,” as the audience sighed. “I’m sorry, you’re stuck with us,” Behar joked. “She’s fighting a bad cold.” Sunny Hostin also confirmed that “she’s fighting a cold, those colds are going around.”
Thursday likely would’ve marked Goldberg’s final appearance on this week’s episodes anyway, as the 67-year-old typically has Fridays off. Goldberg previously had an extended absence from “The View” in November 2022, as it was revealed that the Oscar-winning “Ghost” star contracted COVID.
Still, in Goldberg’s absence, the ladies conducted several lively shows, which included a particularly hilarious moment that saw Behar mistakenly referring to the Jan. 6 insurrection as the “Jan. 6 erection,” prompting laughter from both the studio audience and her cohosts.
“The View” continues weekdays at 11 a.m. ET/PT on ABC.
Goldberg’s absence from “The View” has been a topic of concern for fans. When she took leave on Tuesday, fans flocked to social media to send well wishes to the star. One tweeted: “Feel better, Whoopi!” as another wrote: “Aww Whoopi’s under the weather. Kinda wondered what happened, kinda figured she didn’t feel good.”
Later in the show, the other stars of “The View” welcomed Creed actor Michael B. Jordan onto the program to discuss the third installment in his boxing movie franchise, when he also sent his well-wishes to Goldberg. The actor said: “Shout out to Whoopi,” before blowing a kiss and saying to the camera: “Get better!”
Goldberg did appear on Monday’s show alongside Joy, Ana Navarro, Sunny Hostin, and Alyssa Farah Griffin, when she engaged in a passionate discussion about the age of politicians. The “Sister Act” star aired her frustration, saying: “But do you know what? They’re not doing enough to get themselves elected, that’s the problem. I just really want to say that I’m sick of people talking about age because if you can do the job, I don’t care how old you are.”
The 67-year-old continued: “I want to say, find what Diane Feinstein has not done for her state… You can be as old as dirt if you’re getting stuff done for America, that’s how I feel because it’s fine if you get a lot of young people put in there but you’re still going to have to sit at the feet of older people because you don’t know as much as you think you do.”
“The View” season 27 has been a very interesting time for Whoopi Goldberg. Over the last few weeks of taping, the longtime co-host has found herself in a number of unexpected scenarios. Goldberg initially missed the first week of taping (which started airing on September 5) because she tested positive for COVID-19. When she did re-appear on the daytime series, she found herself needing to save the show amid an intense interaction between her co-star Joy Behar and Matthew McConaughey. And in early October, she voiced her thoughts about the budding romance between Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce.
While the “Sister Act” alum continues intriguing her audience with her unique takes on cultural events, she recently left people wondering where she was while missing from an October 11 taping. What’s more, Goldberg’s absence may cause some to ponder if she’s even on the show at the moment. Luckily, Joy gave an update about Goldberg’s whereabouts, and it looks like she’s got something exciting up her sleeve.
Why isn’t Whoopi Goldberg on “The View”? Much to everyone’s relief, Goldberg is still a co-host on “The View.” As for why she isn’t on right now, Joy teased that Goldberg currently has a mystery project in the works and stepped away briefly to focus on it. “As you can see, Whoopi is off today. She’s off doing something really exciting,” she said at the beginning of the episode. “I can’t tell you what it is … We want you to watch on Monday, when she’ll tell you what it is. But trust me, it’s a good one.”
While we could only speculate exactly what Goldberg’s new venture may be, we do know that she’s gearing up for other cool moments in her career slated for the end of the year. She revealed in early May her plans to release her first graphic novel on November 28, titled “The Change” and it’s already available for pre-order. The news comes after she published a number of children’s books, with her latest title dropping this past January.
Well, expect us to be on the edge of our seats to find out Goldberg’s next big move!
Source: Entertainment Weekly, Us Weekly, ABC
