Whoopi Goldberg has boasted about her seven-figure paycheck from The View, less than two years after she complained on air that she could not afford to retire.
The 70-year-old actress and talk show host told the podcast Baby, This Is Keke Palmer that viewers "would be shocked" if they found out how much she earns.
"Listen, you would be shocked," Goldberg told podcast host Keke Palmer, adding that "as soon as they showed you that check, you'd be like: 'What the f***?'" The Oscar-winning actress declined to give a specific figure, saying only, "It is what it is," as Palmer responded, "Praise God!"
From replacing Rosie O'Donnell to a multimillion-dollar salary
Goldberg has been a mainstay on The View, ABC's long-running daytime talk show, since 2007, when she joined to replace Rosie O'Donnell. O'Donnell left the programme three weeks ahead of schedule following an explosive on-air row with her co-panelist Elisabeth Hasselbeck.
By 2016, Goldberg was reported to be earning between $5 million and $6 million, according to Ramin Setoodeh, who went on to write the bestselling book Ladies Who Punch, detailing years of backstage drama on The View, via Variety. Last month, a source told Page Six that Goldberg was the highest-paid host on the show, with a salary estimated to be in the seven figures.
'If I need to go, I go'
Goldberg, who holds an EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony), also told Palmer that she would be willing to leave The View for another project. "I constantly say to people: 'Yes, I'm still open for this.' And especially now, 'cause people say: 'Well, you're on The View, you can't do anything.' You know, if I need to go, I go. If I need to go," said the Sister Act star.
When Palmer asked whether The View was "the best paying job you've had over the course of all the things you've done," Goldberg answered without hesitation: "No."
Goldberg currently co-hosts The View alongside Joy Behar, the show's longest-serving star, as well as Sunny Hostin, Alyssa Farah Griffin, Sara Haines and Ana Navarro.
Retirement comments after the 2024 election
Goldberg's boast comes less than two years after she told viewers she could not afford to stop working. During a roundtable discussion on The View shortly after the 2024 election about working-class Americans who had voted for Donald Trump, Goldberg described herself as a "working person" who would retire if she had the money.
"If I had all the money in the world, I would not be here, okay? So, I'm a working person," she said on the episode, which aired a day before her 69th birthday.
"I appreciate that people are having a hard time. Me too. I work for a living," added the Ghost actress. "My kid has to feed her family. My great-granddaughter has to be fed by her family. I know it's hard out there."
Salary cuts and a shrinking wardrobe budget
Last month, it was reported that several hosts on The View had seen their salaries cut, though Goldberg was still earning seven figures, according to Page Six. Alyssa Farah Griffin's request for a substantial raise to her reported mid-six-figure salary was said to have been turned down.
An insider also claimed the anchors had reacted with exasperation to news that the show's wardrobe budget had been cut. "They're all mad because they were all wearing really expensive designer clothes, and now it's the same budget of a Wendy Williams-type show versus a marquee daytime show," the source said. "They keep downsizing and downsizing and downsizing."
Representatives for Goldberg and ABC have been contacted for comment.
