Whoopi Goldberg. ABC/Jenny Anderson
Whoopi Goldberg has missed two days in a row on The View after falling ill.
“Unfortunately, I know you’ll be unhappy, Whoopi is not here with us,” Joy Behar announced to start off The View on Wednesday, February 19.
Behar, 82, took over as moderator on The View for episodes airing on Wednesday and Thursday, February 20, because Goldberg had come down with the flu.
Announcing that Goldberg, 69, would miss a second straight day on the talk show, Behar told viewers on Thursday: “Whoopi is still out with the flu. It’s going around, be careful. We hope you’re feeling better, Whoopi. Come back soon.”
Behar also recently skipped multiple episodes of The View this month while preparing for the launch of her Off-Broadway show My First Ex-Husband, which is now playing at the MMAC Theater in New York City.
There have been some notable instances of Goldberg missing The View over the years, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. She was out when her cohosts returned from holiday break in January 2022 because she’d tested positive for the virus and was experiencing “very, very mild” symptoms.
In September 2023, Goldberg had to sit out of The View‘s season 27 premiere because she’d once again caught COVID. Behar was given the responsibility of telling viewers about Goldberg’s absence in that instance as well.
When it comes to a group chat with her cohosts on The View, Whoopi Goldberg is perfectly fine with being left out. During the Monday, January 29, episode of the ABC talk show, cohost Alyssa Farah Griffin asked if there’s a text chain she’s not included in. Cohost Sunny Hostin confirmed there had been in […]
“As you can see, Whoopi is not here. She has COVID,” Behar informed The View‘s studio audience. “Yes, it’s back. It’s back! But she’s on the mend. She’s on the tail end and she’ll probably be back this week. But sorry she’s not here, for those of you who were looking forward to seeing her.”
Whoopi took some personal time away from The View in 2023 to meet Pope Francis at the Vatican, later joking on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon that she’d even offered him a role in Sister Act 3.
“I went to see him and he actually seems to be a bit of a fan,” the actress reported to host Jimmy Fallon. “Sister Act, hello?!”
Prior to her most recent health scare, Goldberg interrupted The View on February 5 to warn viewers that her likeness was being used without permission to promote a diet drug.
“I’m giving everybody a heads-up,” she announced. “There is a phony weight loss ad floating around online, on Instagram, that has me [with an] AI mouth saying all kinds of stuff.”
The View moderator asked her fans to ignore the “phony” ads: “Do not indulge in this, do not look at this. Just get rid of it, because I don’t know what it is. I had nothing to do with it, and I don’t want y’all thinking that this is coming from me.”
The View recently announced a brand-new spinoff that will allow fans to keep up with Goldberg’s cohosts Behar, Sara Haines, Sunny Hostin, Ana Navarro and Alyssa Farah Griffin seven days a week.
The Weekend View features the show’s Friday panel, sans Goldberg, discussing “Hot Topics” that didn’t make it into the weekday episodes. Viewers can catch The Weekend View on ABC News Now on Saturday and Sunday mornings.
Michael Loccisano/Getty Images for Tribeca Festival; Arroyo-OConnor/AFF-USA.com/MEGA Whoopi Goldberg had no filter when — randomly — asking The View cohost Alyssa Farah Griffin about a possible pregnancy. Goldberg, 67, was mid-sentence during the Thursday, September 14, episode of The View when she abruptly stopped, looked at Griffin, 34, across the table and asked, “Are you […]
“In addition to having its most-watched linear season in four years, The View is finding success meeting viewers wherever they get their content,” executive producer Brian Teta said in a statement. “From podcasts to YouTube, and now with new exclusive streaming content for the weekend on ABC News Live.”
The View airs Mondays through Fridays on ABC, while streaming spinoff The Weekend View airs on ABC News Now Saturdays at 7:30 a.m. ET and Sundays at 9:30 a.m. ET.
