‘The View’ Host Whoopi Goldberg Shares the Unique Reason Behind Her Hilarious Stage Name

The View host Whoopi Goldberg revealed an interesting anecdote surrounding her famous stage name. The Oscar winner is currently enjoying a relaxing vacation period while the popular political and hot topics TV show remains off-air till September 5th. While making a guest appearance on Disney Channel's alum Raven-Symoné and Miranda Maday’s podcast - The Best Podcast Ever, the EGOT pioneer hilariously revealed "how farts changed her life" and she ended up changing her name from Caryn Johnson to Whoopi Goldberg. The 67-year-old confessed, “It came from me being a champion faster.”

As per the US Sun, when the hosts questioned her about the unique stage name Goldberg narrated the funny story about its creation,  “That’s why I love her so much!”, Raven exclaimed while laughing while Maday continued to confirm the tale. Goldberg confirmed the story to be true before expanding on it. “Yeah, because I was working in a small theater that didn’t really have much backstage space,” she said.

"We had to change clothes, and there wasn’t a lot of space.” Goldberg continued on how her mother always told her “there’s more room out than in” and since her “farts did not come scented” due to eating reasonably clean, she felt “comfortable letting them rip.” She went on, “So, one day, somebody said, ‘My God, you’re like a f**king Whoopi Cushion.’ So, they’d go, ‘Hey, Whoopi Cushion!’” 

The Sister Act actress continued to share that her theatre colleagues started teasing her with the new moniker but in a French accent. The mocking continued until the Ghost actress’ mother told her that it sounded like a “joke name.” Goldberg shared that her mom Emma, who passed away in 2010, told her, “But I think you, if you’re really gonna continue to be a serious artist, and you can have any name you want, but you need to weigh it in something,” The Rat Race actress then requested her mom to give suggestions, the comedian wanted her mother to choose the final version of her stage name. Goldberg's mom then shared multiple names from throughout their family that could be chosen, and she finally suggested 'Whoopi Goldberg' as the professional name instead of the birth name - Caryn Elaine Johnson. 

The View moderator and co-host continued, “I don’t really know what made her say that, but she felt like I would not be taken 'seriously'. I don’t know why she thought I would be taken more seriously as Whoopi Goldberg, but clearly, she was right.” Goldberg will return to the live sets of The View's new season on September 5th. The longest-running TV talk show is currently off-air for a seasonal break. The show currently concluded its 26th season on ABC and it has been running as part of the network's daytime program since August 11, 1997.