Whoopi Goldberg displays on household, profession in new memoir “Bits and Items”

After a greater than four-decade profession, Whoopi Goldberg is sharing her story on her personal phrases. The EGOT winner joined “CBS Mornings” to debate her new memoir, “Bits and Items,” which delves into her profession, life, and relationships along with her late mom, Emma Johnson, and late brother, Clyde Johnson.

Goldberg credit her household for her success. She recalled her mom’s recommendation that’s talked about in her memoir: Cry about what you do not have or determine it out after which go do it.

“It is form of how I dwell my life, you realize,” Goldberg mentioned of her mom’s recommendation. “If one thing’s not going proper or I’ve stepped in one thing, I am not gonna cry about it. I simply gotta be like, ‘Yeah, I did,’ and transfer on, as a result of all that wasted time of ‘Oh, no,’ it is like a tic-tok, child. You do not have a lot time left.” 

Goldberg, who grew up in a housing growth in New York Metropolis, mentioned her mom was “desirous about all the pieces,” which allowed Goldberg to discover the world as a baby.

“She, I feel, at all times felt that if she may expose us, we may discover various things for ourselves,” she mentioned.

Reflecting on her profession, from working with director Steven Spielberg and starring in “The Shade Purple,” Goldberg expressed shock at how rapidly 4 many years have handed. 

“For me, it feels nonetheless prefer it was yesterday,” she mentioned. “It nonetheless feels actually contemporary, all of it.”

Goldberg mentioned administrators Mike Nichols and Spielberg modified her life by bringing her into present enterprise and displaying her that expertise will get you far — it doesn’t matter what. 

“You might not like me, however you can’t deny what I can do,” Goldberg mentioned. “And that’s the factor that I get to stroll in my fact on daily basis. I’m good at what I do. I’m, no matter whether or not you assume I am cute or attractive, no matter, does not matter. You’ll be able to’t do what I can do.”

She mentioned at first of her profession, Hollywood was attempting to make Goldberg into “a feminine model of Eddie Murphy.” She mentioned that almost all of her early motion pictures have been hits on HBO, however did not do properly in theaters. It wasn’t till 1991, when she received an Academy Award for Greatest Supporting Actress within the film, “Ghost,” that she mentioned she felt actually accepted in Hollywood.

The memoir additionally candidly addresses Goldberg’s previous struggles with cocaine dependancy and her option to give up chilly turkey. 

“You must decide,” Goldberg mentioned. “Do you need to dwell in a closet, on the backside of a closet? When the housekeeper is available in, she screams, you scream, and also you assume, is that this the remainder of my life? … Is that this the life you need? If the reply is not any, get out proper now.”