Whoopi Goldberg: Uncensored and Unafraid | 273

Even the Rich

Wondery

Society & Culture

4.3 • 11.5K Ratings

🗓️ 15 April 2025

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Whoopi Goldberg has had a life. And then some. Long before she became a Hollywood icon (and the first Black woman to achieve EGOT status), she struggles with substance abuse, trouble at school, and teenage pregnancy. And then she becomes a mom at just 17. But her unique comedy voice captures the attention of legendary writer/director Mike Nichols who sees something special in her. He brings her to Broadway, where she becomes the toast of the town, and the trajectory of her life is completely altered. What follows next for Whoopi is a career that breaks boundaries and records, and even gets her blacklisted in Hollywood.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Wonderie Plus subscribers can binge the newest season of Even the Rich before anyone else.
0:04.4	Join Wonderly Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts.
0:13.0	Brooke, would you say you hold back when you share your opinions publicly?
0:17.8	Absolutely.
0:20.6	Honestly, I'm joking, but then part of me is like, actually a little bit,
0:25.3	because I would go the fuck off probably. Yeah. It's one of those things where it's like,
0:30.0	if you don't know you, you're like, oh, this is you holding back. It's terrifying to think of
0:35.7	what it could be like if you weren't. Yeah,
0:39.1	that's fair. Well, today's guest has been speaking her mind for five decades and almost never
0:45.7	holds back. She's fearless, unapologetic, and more than just a powerhouse of opinions.
0:50.8	She's a history maker and not just because she's the first black woman to achieve
0:55.2	egot status. Today, we're talking all about the incredible Whoopi Goldberg.
1:09.5	It's 1984.
1:15.3	Whoopi Goldberg is a single mother desperately trying to make it as a comedian and actor.
1:23.1	She walks onto the stage of New York City's dance theater workshop to perform another night of her cutting-edge one-woman show, the spook show.
1:26.1	Audiences from coast to coast have loved it.
1:43.3	But tonight, unbeknownst to Whoopi, there's a show business power player in the audience who has an idea. And that idea will not only land her on Broadway in just months, but launch a legendary career that will make her one of the most successful and versatile entertainers of her generation.
1:46.5	Paying by card.
1:48.7	It's as simple as it's what you can do with them that counts.
1:51.8	Discoveries with friends.
1:53.5	Pasta Pramizzerra.
1:54.6	Memories with your taste buds.
	...

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