Whoopi Goldberg Gives Emotional Tribute to Malcolm-Jamal Warner Following His Unexpected Death

Whoopi Goldberg couldn’t help but get emotional as she paid tribute to Malcolm-Jamal Warner following The Cosby Show star’s death Sunday at 54.

“We were devastated to hear that Malcolm-Jamal Warner drowned while vacationing in Costa Rica,” Goldberg said on Tuesday’s episode of The View. “He was just 54 years old.”

“He first became a pop culture icon as Theo Huxtable on The Cosby Show. And generations of Americans are feeling this loss because he was like everybody’s brother,” Goldberg continued, before sighing and growing emotional while speaking more off the cuff.

“He was really a great kid,” she said after taking a deep breath. “I knew him well.”

Goldberg revealed that the person who shared with her the news of Warner’s death sent her a note that said, “This is why what you all did on Friday matters,” adding, “And it is something that I will impart to you all.”

“Because our lives move so quickly and we can disappear at any second, do not let much time pass before you say to your loved ones, ‘Hey, I’m thinking of you,’ or ‘Hey, how you doing?’” Goldberg advised. “Make sure you contact somebody today and reach out.”

Goldberg’s co-host, Sunny Hostin, also shared her memories of Warner. “I knew him also – I dated his friend – and he was always so nice to me,” she said. “He didn’t behave the way I thought movie stars or television stars would behave. He was very welcoming to this kind of outsider.”

'The View' remembers Malcolm-Jamal Warner, former 'Cosby Show' star, who died at 54. pic.twitter.com/Ua7pGA30iB

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As a lawyer, Hostin pointed out that The Cosby Show left a valuable legacy behind. “I think [Warner’s death] was so shocking because of the place that he had in pop culture for African Americans,” she explained. “I remember growing up and watching this family as a kid from the South Bronx projects, watching a Black doctor and Black lawyer married to each other living in a beautiful Brooklyn townhouse. And for me, it became something that was a possibility.”

“That depiction, I think, was an overdue corrective against these harmful stereotypes of the Black community that existed for so very long,” she continued, “and he was just such a crucial part of it, especially I think for young Black men.”