Whoopi Goldberg Addresses Speculation About Her Sexuality

Whoopi Goldberg is opening up about her sexuality. Appearing on Sunday’s episode of Raven-Symoné’s podcast The Best Podcast Ever with Raven and Miranda, The View co-host addressed ongoing rumors about her sexuality after Symoné claimed she gave off “lesbian vibes.”

“I want to just dig into your business a little bit, this is a safe space,” said the That’s So Raven alum, who was a co-host on The View from 2015 to 2016 and came out in 2013 before she later married Miranda Maday. “Honestly, when I was around you, I loved you so much like I just wanted to be up underneath the t-ty the whole time! But that’s also because you just kind of gave me lesbian vibes! But, like, sometimes Whoops, you give me lesbian vibes, you give me stud vibes… So if you want to tell us anything, Whoops, you’re more than welcome to!”

Goldberg seemed unphased by Symoné’s comments, admitting that while she is not queer, “Women have been asking me this for as long as I’ve been around. I am not a lesbian.” The Sister Act star added, “But I know lots of them, and I’ve played them on television.” Goldberg went on to explain that she has had to set boundaries with some of her friends in the past, telling Symoné, “I’ll tell them, ‘I’m not gonna kiss you, but I’ll kiss you over here, I’ll do this, but I’m not going to do this’ … and they’re like, ‘OK!’”

Symoné’s wife joked of the conversation, “I think this is a secret fantasy of Raven’s! I think she just wants everybody to be gay and she’s just really hoping you’ll come out right here, right now.”

The candid conversation came after Goldberg earlier this month spoke about her previous divorces. The Ghost actress has been married three times, first marrying drug counselor Alvin Martin, with whom she shares daughter Alexandrea, in 1973 at 18 years old. The pair divorced six years after they tied the knot. Goldberg went on to marry Dutch cinematographer David Claessen in 1986 before they called it quits in 1988. Her last marriage was to actor Lyle Trachtenberg in 1994, the pair divorcing two years later. Discussing those relationships on The View, Goldberg said that every time she got divorced, she was “dancing and prancing around, I was so glad to get out of there. Because I always knew, I always thought, ‘you didn’t want to do this, and you knew you didn’t want to do it, and you did it anyway,’ so shut up and move on.”