Whoopi Goldberg Says Working With Barbara Walters is "Amazing"

Whoopi Goldberg and Barbara Walters

Photo courtesy of Getty Images

By: BROOKE NIEMEYER
Whoopi Goldberg is known for her standout performances in films like "Ghost," "The Color Purple," and "Sister Act," and now as a television host. She began her current role as co-host and moderator of the daytime talk show "The View" in 2007 and revealed to Niteside last night that, even after all this time on the show, she still gets awe-struck sitting across the table from Barbara Walters.

"I sometimes sit across from her and think, 'Wow, am I really hanging out with you?'" Goldberg said. "The most amazing thing is that, you think back to what she did and you kind of get blown away by it, because she really was the first. You don't get to meet many firsts in your life, so it's kind of amazing."

Goldberg has her own status as one of the rare recipients of all four major performance awards - an Emmy, an Oscar, a Grammy, and a Tony. Her name was recently left off a list of past black Oscar winners published in The New York Times, despite her win in 1991 for her role in "Ghost," and she has not hidden her disgust for this omission.

"Oh no, I don't think you read about me there," Goldberg said, rolling her eyes, at the mention of the article during a talk at the 92nd Street Y in the Upper East Side.

The New York Times released a statement on Monday responding to Goldberg's upset, saying that the "point of the piece was not to name every black actor or actress who has been awarded an Oscar" but instead to compare the number of winners prior to those who have won since.

Goldberg produced "Sister Act: The Musical," which will open on Broadway this March. The show originally began in London in 2008, which forced Goldberg to travel abroad - something she doesn't typically do since she doesn't like to fly.

"I didn't fly for 15 years - I have my bus," Goldberg said. "But Tom [Leonardis] says to me, off the cuff, 'We're going to London next month for the show' and I said, 'We're going to have to get an anesthesiologist."

Now that her fears are somewhat under control, thanks in part to modern medicine, Goldberg announced Thursday that she will be heading back overseas in the coming months for a royal interview.

"I'm being interviewed by Prince Edward at Windsor Castle," Goldberg said. "I know him, so it's a comfortable situation for me, and for him too."

As for if she'll return to England again for the upcoming nuptials between Prince William and Kate Middleton -- don't count on it.

"I'm not going to the wedding," Goldberg said. "I don't want to go -- no hot dogs."

As a well-known activist for equality and gay rights, Goldberg has participated in many LGBT rallies and also helped with the launch of Cyndi Laupers "Give a Damn Campaign," and says she doesn't understand those who oppose any marriage.

"I don't understand this idea that you have to separate it and it can't be called marriage," Goldberg said. "My feeling is, if you don't like gay marriage, don't marry a gay person."

A version of this story also ran on NBCNewYork.com's Niteside.

Rivals Joy Behar, Bill O'Reilly Pal Around at White House Christmas Party

Co-hosts of 'The View' Barbara Walters and Joy Behar

Photo courtesy of Getty Images

By: BROOKE NIEMEYER
'Tis the season to bury the hatchet.

"The View" co-host Joy Behar said she and outspoken pundit Bill O'Reilly came face to face at President Obama's Christmas party at the White House last week and were able to move beyond their bitter back-and-forth stemming from O'Reilly's remarks about 9/11 that caused the daytime talk show host to walk off the set of her ABC show in October.

"I took a picture with him and I even gave him bunny ears," Behar said Sunday night during an appearance at the 92nd Street Y. "Let bygones be bygones."

During the Christmas party, she also lobbied Michelle Obama to get the commander in chief to make a cameo on the show.

"I said, 'Listen, he was on a show called 'Myth Busters' last week and now he needs to come on my show,'" Behar quipped. "She told me, 'I'll see what I can do.'"

Behar, 68, is best known for sitting alongside Barbara Walters, Whoopi Goldberg, Sherri Shepherd, and Elisabeth Hasselbeck as co-host on the daytime talk show "The View," a group she calls a "big family." She and Goldberg both walked off the set after the Fox News host said, "Muslims killed us on 9/11." The incident led to both sides trading barbs in the weeks to follow.

"Barbara didn't like it, but I did it anyway," Behar said of her walk out. "It was a complete impulse in a moment of rage."

She added: "They're my family and that's one of the reasons I'll never leave. It's fun mostly. I don't feel stressed about that job."

Aside from doing "The View," Behar started her own celebrity and news commentary show on CNN called "The Joy Behar Show." She says that if she could have any guest on her show, dead or alive, she would pick Jackie Kennedy.

"I probably could never get her on the show though," Behar said. "But Barbara could get her. You know her... she's relentless."

This story ran on NBCNewYork.com's NiteSide.