Whoopi Goldberg lost her brother, Clyde, and her mother, Emma, five years apart in 2005 and 2010. Sitting with CNN’s Anderson Cooper in the latest episode of “All There Is” podcast, the hollywood veteran discussed the loss of her mother and brother, and how these experiences have shaped her perspective on grief, particularly as a sense of abandonment.
During the emotional conversation, Whoopi revisited a childhood memory of her mother’s two-year stay at Bellevue Hospital in New York for mental health treatment. When Emma returned home, she didn’t recognise Whoopi or her brother, Clyde, a moment that profoundly influenced the actress’s outlook on life and relationships.
Whoopi also admitted feeling confused about her initial reaction to her mother’s death, telling Anderson that she didn’t think she was grieving “correctly” because she wasn’t more devastated. However, just before the interview, she realised why.
“There was nothing left unsaid with us, so there was no angst to find,” she explained. “That thing that I’ve seen in movies where I see people go through, I didn’t go through it because my experience was, ‘you know I adored and loved you, and you were the center of my life.’ The same with my brother. We said it to each other all the time.”
Her brother, Clyde, passed away five years after their mother, leaving Goldberg with the sobering realisation that she was the last surviving member of her immediate family.
“I don’t think anything can prepare you for actually being on your own,” she reflected.
Watch the full conversation below:
