“Whoopi took a nap,” Joy Behar observed after Goldberg was shown pretending to fall asleep with her head in her hand.
Whoopi Goldberg begun her Thanksgiving holiday recess early after she lowered her head to her hand and pretended to sleep live on The View in protest over a Hot Topics discussion about a Wicked meme involving stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo.
The 69-year-old nestled her chin firmly into her palm during Tuesday’s live show, after introducing a chat about a viral interview moment that bubbled up during the Wicked press tour involving a queer journalist questioning the musical’s stars over fans “holding space” for the lyrics to the movie’s signature “Defying Gravity” song.
“Apparently, this has struck a chord with people. Why? I don’t know,” Goldberg said, before promptly checking out for the rest of the segment, which included several shots of her pretending to sleep while the panelists reacted to the news.
Whoopi Goldberg pretends to fall asleep on ‘The View’.ABC
On the other end of the spectrum, however, Sunny Hostin and Alyssa Farah Griffin recreated the moment as they channeled Erivo and Grande and playfully embraced each other’s hands while the audience laughed.
“What does holding space mean?” Joy Behar eventually asked, with Hostin explaining to her that it’s the “practice of making space for somebody else’s experience and centering them” that “fosters listening and empathizing,” per Psychology Today.
“Am I supposed to hold space for Trump supporters now?” Behar joked. Later, Griffin praised how “perfectly unhinged the whole press tour is” for Wicked, before Behar pointed her cohosts toward Goldberg nodding off at the head of the table.
“Whoopi took a nap throughout this entire segment,” Behar observed. Added Hostin: “She’s holding space for her self-care!”
Goldberg then woke up from her faux slumber, looked around, and smiled at the chuckling audience as she sent the show to a commercial break.
The Oscar-winning Ghost actress has a long history of resisting specific topics she doesn’t particularly care about on the show, including in July 2023, when she hilariously walked off the set during a debate about country singer Miranda Lambert.
The View airs weekdays at 11 a.m. ET/10 a.m. PT on ABC.