This legend of both the stand-up stage and the silver screen grew up through a series
of hardships that don't typically lead to Hollywood.
From teen pregnancies to addiction, she overcame extreme hurdles to become a star.
This is the tragic real-life story of Whoopi Goldberg.
An unthinkable choice
In the book The Choices We Made: Twenty-Five Women and Men Speak Out About Abortion, Goldberg
revealed that she found out she was pregnant at age 14.
She didn't seek out any help to explore all her options, and she didn't talk to anyone.
Instead, she said that she panicked.
In an act of desperation, she attempted a bunch of harmful methods in order to terminate
the pregnancy.
In the end, those methods only made her, quote, "violently ill," so she resorted to a drastic
and potentially fatal method to end the pregnancy.
The following year, at the age of 15, she got pregnant again, but was able to obtain
a safer termination to that pregnancy at Planned Parenthood, thanks to recent legislation that
made abortion legal in New York.
Goldberg isn't proud of her actions.
That's why, to this day, she's a strong pro-choice and legal abortion proponent.
"You shouldn't be beating them up because they've had to make this terrible decision.
And it's not your business, it's not your business that they had to make the decision."
Learning disability
Goldberg had a very difficult time in school.
She told Ebony,
"I couldn't understand what they were doing."
When she couldn't grasp basic concepts, she was convinced that she was lacking intelligence.
Instead of continuing to struggle through the course load, she made the decision to
drop out of school by her 17th birthday and sought refuge on the streets.
Years later, her reason for falling behind in school was finally discovered when she
was diagnosed with dyslexia.
"I didn't understand how they didn’t see that I was smart, I just couldn't figure things
the way they were doing it."
Drug abuse
After Goldberg found herself on the streets, it didn't take long for her to begin experimenting
with various drugs.
According to Ebony,
"LSD, heroin, you name it, she did it - and before long she was hooked."
The publication described Goldberg as a, quote, "stone-cold junkie," and it was hard for even
the actress to argue with that description.
She said the more often she did drugs, the less amazing she began to feel, and that created
a detrimental cycle.
She added,
"So you've got to do it more and more often.
It ain't your friend."
Getting clean became a priority for her, but she admitted that it took her many attempts
for her to finally kick her habit.
Labeled a homewrecker
While on the set of Made in America, Goldberg fell hard for her co-star, Ted Danson.
The problem was, Danson was married to Casey Coates at the time.
According to People, Coates suffered a stroke in 1979 while giving birth to their daughter.
The publication explained,
"Miraculously, the baby was healthy, but Casey's left side was totally paralyzed."
Coates reportedly gave Danson permission to leave her, but he decided to stick by her
side - that is until he met Goldberg.
According to The National Enquirer, Danson had to shell out $30 million to Coates in
their divorce settlement.
Not only was his wholesome, family man image tarnished, but Goldberg received intense backlash,
as well.
According to HuffPost, they broke up after a year of dating, but the stigma of being
Danson's mistress followed Goldberg.
During an interview with the Orlando Sentinel, Goldberg rattled off some of the words that
have been used to describe her, saying,
"I'm an anti-Semite, I'm a bigot.
I'm a disgrace to my race, I'm a disgrace to women.
I'm a home-wrecker.
I've slept with everyone in Hollywood."
Serious illness
In the fall of 2018, Goldberg thought she had contracted a common cold.
But months later, she wound up in the hospital and was diagnosed with sepsis, as well as
pneumonia in both lungs.
She told People that doctors said she had a 30 percent chance of not making it.
While in the hospital, the entertainer had to have both of her lungs drained twice, and
a catheter was then used to continue removing fluid.
After taking six weeks off from The View, Goldberg made her triumphant return in March
2019, but she still wasn't back to her normal self.
"The scariest moment was hearing my doctor say to me, 'You do realize how close to death
you were?"
As she told People,
"It really took me down, but I'm getting there."
Goldberg said she's "grateful to be alive" - and we're so happy she's okay, too!
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