What To Know
- Whoopi Goldberg candidly discussed her substantial paycheck on Keke Palmer’s podcast.
- Despite her high earnings from The View, Goldberg clarified that it is not her top-paying job ever.
- Goldberg noted that she still actively seeks creative opportunities outside The View.
Whoopi Goldberg is currently the senior-most regular cast member on The View, and apparently, that longevity pays. (Though Joy Behar joined the series in its original season, she briefly left the show, making Goldberg the longest-running cohost of the show and, thus, its main moderator.)
Goldberg is the featured guest on the latest episode of Keke Palmer‘s podcast, Baby This Is Keke Palmer, and she opened up about her experience on the daytime talk show.
“It’s like I’ve been crazy-glued to that chair,” she said of her nearly two-decade tenure on The View.
When asked by the host what she loves most about it, Goldberg quipped, “The check. I love the check.”
When Palmer then asked if audiences can imagine what she makes for her work, she said, “No, no, you can’t. Trust me. You can’t. Listen, you would be shocked.” The implication was that it was a hefty sum.
💰 Whoopi Goldberg jokes “The View” paycheck is fabulous.
Credit: Baby, This is Keke Palmer pic.twitter.com/nZxWYN2I54
— TMZ (@TMZ) August 4, 2026
Elsewhere in the interview, though, Goldberg clarified that The View is still not her top-paying gig of all time.
“The truth of the matter is, very few of us are actually making the kind of money you’re reading about. That’s just the way it is. And people always do, ‘Wink wink.’ I’m like, ‘No wink wink.’ ‘Cause if I had that kind of money — and I love my job — I don’t know that I’d still be doing it. I don’t know that I’d still be doing the show. But a girl’s gotta eat, and I never married well, so I still have to support myself.”
Goldberg, who is also a rare EGOT-winning actress when she’s not cohosting The View, admitted that all of the esteem she earned isn’t always as important as the earnings: “What flashes in my mind is, ‘Is this going to help me pay my rent? Is this going to pay my mortgage?’ Listen, every accolade I’ve received, I’m grateful for, but it doesn’t always translate into… work. It’s nice that I have all of those things, but do I constantly have to say to people, ‘I’d like to work with you’?”
She then explained that it’s especially important for her to do outreach to potential creative collaborators on her own now, especially because of The View. “I don’t come right up in your mind. I’m not the first one you think of. So I constantly say to people, ‘Yes, I’m still open for this.’ And especially now because people say, ‘Well, you’re on The View. You can’t do anything.’ If I need to go, I go,” she explained.
The View is currently on summer break after the finale for Season 29. Although an official cohost lineup for Season 30 has not yet been announced, Goldberg will likely continue to hold the top chair there when the series returns in September.
The View, Weekdays, 11a/10c, ABC