Whoopi Goldberg Tells the Daring Story Behind Her Stage Name

Whoopi Goldberg It was always after laughter.

In fact, the comedian (real name Karen Johnson) She recently shared that her original stage name came from a popular funny gift.

“First, Whoopi, and I was Whoopi’s pillow,” she said to Seth Meyers On the July 11 episode of in late Time of night“And then I became Whoopi.” Pillow“.”

Having come up with the name in her thirties, the view The co-host pointed out that it was her mother. Emma Harris Who convinced her to change “Cushion” to “Goldberg”.

“She said, ‘You’re underestimating yourself,’” Whoopi recalled. “If you call yourself Whoopi Cushion, people won’t really appreciate what you can do.” I said, “Really? Oh, is it cool to call a star that?” And she said, “Yes.”

As for the source of the name Goldberg, Whoopi says: “Her mother said to me, ‘Well, there are a lot of last names, and we have a lot of different people in our family, and I love Goldberg,’ and I said, ‘Well, we’ll try that.'”