Whoopi Goldberg clarifies she's 'not at Burning Man' after missing “The View” premiere due to COVID
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
Whoopi Goldberg wants the world to know that she's not secretly playing hookie on The View.
After missing the show's Season 27 premiere yesterday, the moderator confirmed in a brief video message at the top of Tuesday's episode that she had contracted COVID once again and would not be returning to the show or its newly-designed set until getting a clean bill of health.
"Hey, in spite of everything you've heard, and let me just make sure that you know it's actually me," Goldberg said in the clip, lowering her face mask. "See, it's me. I am not at Burning Man. I'm not still in Italy, I'm not doing stuff, I'm not trying to change the outcome of the election — I just, I have COVID. I just have COVID."
ABC Whoopi Goldberg on 'The View'
Goldberg added that she's still testing positive for the illness. "I have to have a clear test before I can come back, so it might be a couple of days but I'm really thrilled to see the beautiful new desk," she explained. "I'm really thrilled to see all the beautiful women. You girls look great and, you know, I can't wait to get back and hang out. But, until then, it's me and my mask."
She admitted, though, that isolating due to the infection has been a bit of a unique experience.
"I'm sort of confined to my room," she joked. "I've never been sent to my room like this at this age, but I've been confined to my room. But I just wanted to say, and let everybody know, that I'll be there as soon as I can and I'm sending you all great love and can't wait to get back to our favorite place: The View."
Goldberg's comment about Burning Man is in reference to the disaster that unfolded at the festival in Nevada over the weekend, which saw more than 70,000 attendees forced to shelter in place and conserve their food and water after heavy rainfall caused muddy conditions that shuttered the event three days early.
Ana Navarro joked that Goldberg would likely never visit the gathering of her own volition. "Whoopi Goldberg, as we know, likes electric, heated toilets," she teased. "The chance of her being at Burning Man is zero."
Sunny Hostin also gave an update on Goldberg's condition. "She's in really good spirits though, I've been texting back and forth with her." Joy Behar noted, "She sounds a little hoarse."
Behar previously announced that Goldberg had fallen ill during yesterday's premiere. "As you can see, Whoopi is not here, she has COVID," she said at the time. "Yes, it's back, it's back, but she's on the mend, she's on the tail end, and she'll probably be back this week. But, sorry she's not here, for those of you that were looking forward to seeing her."
Goldberg previously came down with COVID in January 2022 and ended up missing several episodes again in November of the same year when she contracted the illness for a second time.
Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more.
Related content:
