Tag Archives: Whoopi Goldberg

Daily Juice: Fear the Walking Dead’s Mercedes Mason Talks Possible Ofelia–Alicia Romance

Fear the Walking Dead star Mercedes Mason stopped by Entertainment Weekly Radio this week, and told them she was not opposed to hooking up with Alycia Debnam-Carey.

If Ofelia were to hook up with a woman — you know, Alicia might be a little young, and there is sort of more of a sister relationship at this point — but if she were to hook up with a woman, it would really sort of color season 1. One, for me as an actress, that would be amazing. But two, it would really color how she dealt with the commander guy who she was luring in. It would really color what she was doing there and what that says about her character. Because then that’s not a crush anymore — it’s a very manipulative concept, which I think is super cool.”

https://soundcloud.com/ewradio/mercedes-mason-fear-the-walking-dead-fans-are-shipping-ofelia-with-alicia-and-nick

Whoopi Goldberg and Rosie O’Donnell will guest star in the upcoming LGBT history mini-series When We Rise.

Whoopi Goldberg and Rosie O’Donnell

The series is based on the memoir by activist Cleve Jones, and will be executive produced by Gus Van Sant and Dustin Lance Black.

According to Deadline, Rosie will play Del Martin, co-founder of the Daughters of Bilitis and a long-time activist. Whoopi will play Pat Norman, “the first openly gay employee of the San Francisco Health Department.”

First trailer for Tulip Fever starring Alicia Vikander, Dane DeHaan, and Cara Delevingne.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puqEadT824c

Students at Niwot High School in California are upset after they claim a lesbian couple is being refused a chance to be crowned prom princesses.

https://twitter.com/rivertaylor/status/725700371994259456?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

And finally, an Alabama town says it will fine or jail Trans* people who pee in the ‘wrong’ bathroom

 

Whoopi Goldberg To Matt Damon: Sexuality Has ‘Nothing To Do’ With Acting Ability

In an interview with the Guardian, Damon made remarks about fellow actor Rupert Everett, suggesting he was less successful because he came out as gay.

In terms of actors, I think you’re a better actor the less people know about you period. I remember thinking and saying, Rupert Everett was openly gay and this guy – more handsome than anybody, a classically trained actor – it’s tough to make the argument that he didn’t take a hit for being out.”

He later attempted to clarify the comments, on the Ellen DeGeneres show, he said:

I was just trying to say actors are more effective when they’re a mystery. Right? And somebody picked it up and said I said gay actors should get back in the closet. Which is like I mean it’s stupid, but it is painful when things get said that you don’t believe.

In the blogosphere there’s no real penalty for just taking the ball and running with it. You know what I mean? You’re just trying to click on your thing.”

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Whoopi Goldberg, who is straight but has played a lesbian a number of times, opened up about the claims on the View.

I’ll tell you this… I played a gay woman in Colour Purple, a man in The Associate, and we’re actors. We’re supposed to be able to play everything and play it convincingly

So I don’t think whether you know or think or believe I’m gay has anything to do with what my abilities are. As an actor, that’s how I feel.”

Raven pointed out that it’s pretty much impossible for an actor to stay closeted by choice and maintain a certain “mystique” in Hollywood today, given the rise of social media and the public’s insatiable desire to “out” people.

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People tell your business whether you tell your business or not,” Goldberg added. “And in terms of ‘mystique’ and all of that stuff, you used to be able to make that choice for yourself.”

Whoopi Goldberg added:

You can have your privacy, but you’re outed. People out you. People tell your business, whether you tell your business or not. In terms of mystique and all of that stuff, you used to be able to make that choice for yourself. I don’t know why everyone gives out, and I don’t think it has anything to do with how I view you as an actor.”

Watch the clip below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbv_Yu3PaJ0

Raven-Symoné: ‘I Feel More Comfortable Releasing Certain Things About My Life’

Now that she’s a co-host of The View, Raven-Symoné knows there are times when she will have to let viewers in a bit when it comes to her private life.

Talking to People magazine, she said

I’ve got to put some personal stuff out there. But now that I’m 29, I feel more comfortable releasing certain things about my life,”

Symoné is in a relationship with actress AzMarie Livingston who had a recurring role on the Fox drama Empire last season – a show that Symoné guest starred in as well.

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My partner is in a show that people are going ape crazy for. I’m proud of her.”

The one-time That’s So Raven and The Cosby Show star came out publicly in 2013 because

I was tired of answering the same question over and over.”

But she told Oprah Winfrey last year that she does not like labels.

I don’t want to be labelled gay. I want to be labelled a human who loves humans. I’m tired of being labelled.”

Before taking the full-time slot on The View this year, Symoné had been taking stock and letting her career take a back seat to her private life.

I’ve done a lot of things in my life that I’ve just had to smile through, and I don’t want to have to pretend anymore. For a long time I didn’t enjoy myself in life. But it could all end tomorrow. I don’t want to be dying and go, “I forgot to do this.” Now, I’m living life for myself.”

Raven-Symoné Opens Up About Her Relationship With AzMarie Livingston

Since landing her gig on The View, Raven-Symoné has been in the news a lot lately. From spot-on opinions about Donald Trump’s bid for the Presidency; to her confrontation with conservative Candace Cameron Bure over the anti-gay bakery.

However, the one thing Raven doesn’t discuss too much is her personal life. But in a recent interview with People, she finally gave a glimpse into her relationship with model and Empire actress AzMarie Livingston.

Raven told People that she’s proud of AzMarie on the hit show.

My partner is in a show that people are going ape crazy for. I’m proud of her.”

Also read: Raven Symoné Supports Miley Cyrus on Not Wanting to be Labeled Bisexual

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She also wished she had more time at home with her partner – but not just because they’re in love – it comes down to their TV viewing habits.

I refuse to binge-watch shows with anyone unless it’s my partner because I need to watch it when I need to watch it. Right now, I can’t watch the rest of Suits because I gotta wait for her. I’m like, ‘I want to watch it now!’”

Raven-Symone usually keeps her private life to herself but over the past several years she has opened up more regarding her relationships and sexual orientation. In an episode of Oprah: Where Are They Now, the former Cosby Show actress told Oprah,

 

People in my family, they’ve taught me to keep my personal life to myself as much as possible. So, I try my best to hold the fence where I can. But I am proud to be who I am and what I am. I don’t want to be labeled gay. I’m a human who loves humans. I’m tired of being labeled.”

Raven admitted that they are not rushing anything in their relationship. Instead they are focusing on the here-and-now and enjoying their success. Raven-Symone is a cohost on The View and Livingston, who was a former ANTM contestant, is now filming Season 2 of the hit show Empire.

Raven-Symoné Named Co-Host of The View

It’s official: Raven-Symoné is now a permanent co-host on The View.

Moderator Whoopi Goldberg officially announced on today’s show that the former Disney star.

In a statement released by ABC, Raven, called the appointment “another one of my dreams come true!”

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After the announcement at the top of the hour, the new co-host, 29, proudly shared with the audience:

I remember coming to show with the Cheetah Girls when I was 15. I’m very happy to be sitting with these smart, talented mentors.”

After that she presented some tasty gifts – bacon and sweets for several of the panellists and potato chips and watermelon for Goldberg, 59.

Being a part of The View family will be a wonderful growing experience for me. The cast and crew are warm and welcoming and have made the transition into daytime talk easier. I have a lot to learn within this new arena, but being the apprentice of these spectacular women will only make me a better person and talk show host.”

Also read: Raven Symone Opens Up About Her Sexuality in Teaser For Upcoming Oprah Interview

It’s been an unstable time for the 18-year-old show, which is finding strong ratings competition from CBS’s similarly structured “The Talk.” After seven years away, Rosie O’Donnell rejoined the cast last September, then abruptly left in February, Nicolle Wallace and Rosie Perez joined the show.

Former moderator Barbara Walters, who remains an executive producer on the show, added

Raven-Symoné is a welcome addition to The View. She is happy, amusing and well-informed, and has already brought a unique perspective to the program that has resonated with our audience.”

Rosie O’Donnell Returning to TV

Comedian, actor and lesbian icon Rosie O’Donnell has made a deal with ABC to return to The View, TMZ is reporting. The celebrity news source announced O’Donnell will be a co-host on the daytime show she left in 2007.

O’Donnell previously co-hosted The View from September 2006 until May 2007 and left after an on-air feud with former co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck. Both returned, along with the nine other current and former co-hosts, to salute Barbara Walters, who retired in May.

O’Donnell will now join Whoopi Goldberg on the program, who is the last host standing after several co-hosts left the program for various reasons over the past two months. In addition to Walters’ retirement, Sherri Shepherd and Jenny McCarthy also recently announced their departures from The View.

According to TMZ, the show is also looking to add a Latina and a conservative co-host. Sarah Palin has thrown her name in the hat as a potential co-host and Mario Cantone has reportedly been offered a position on the panel, which would make him the show’s first male co-host.

I *Heart* Whoopi Goldberg

Born Caryn Elaine Johnson, she took on the stage name Whoopi after a joke shop toy, a whoopee cushion. Her single mother, who was supportive of her daughter’s dreams of stardom, encouraged the stage surname Goldberg instead of the plain and ordinary Johnson. Goldberg went on to take acting classes, then improvisation classes, which led her to stand-up comedy routines for which Mike Nichols, a film director, took notice and offered to help Goldberg break into Broadway on her comedy routine (then named The Spook Show).

Goldberg’s star-making role was for a serious drama. She played Celie Harris, the main character in the 1985 film adaptation of Alice Walker’s novel The Colour Purple, which traces the life of a black girl in America as she is abused by her father, forced into marriage, and separated from her beloved sister.

With a renowned director as Steven Spielberg on the project, and Oprah Winfrey playing the free-spirited housewife Sofia, the relatively unknown Goldberg held her own in terms of performance and became the Walker’s own choice for the starring role.

Celie Harris’ life took a turn for the better upon making the acquaintance of Shug Avery, a beautiful lounge singer who proceeded to seduce Celie. Their lesbian relationship was explicit in the book but only implied in the film adaptation.

Since then, Goldberg went on to bring to life such memorable roles as the barkeep Guinan in the science fiction space opera Star Trek: The Next Generation, and returned to comedy in the film Sister Act where she played Deloris Van Cartier, a lounge singer who takes refuge at a convent after she witnesses her mobster boyfriend commit a murder.

Goldberg has been a staunch advocate and activist for gay rights, and received the Ally for Equality Award from the Human Rights Campaign in February 2, 2013.

Watch Whoopi Goldberg Calls for Global Solidarity with LGBT Ugandans and Nigerians

Today, artist and humanitarian Whoopi Goldberg released a video with the Human Rights Campaign with a message for the presidents of Uganda and Nigeria, “you’re on the wrong side of history.”

“It isn’t right to imprison someone for who they are, for who they love.”

Whoopi Goldberg

In her message, Goldberg highlights the disturbing reality that members of LGBT NGOs “like the Human Rights Campaign” could now be subject to prison sentences in both Uganda and Nigeria. She also criticizes Ugandan and Nigerian officials for listening to the rhetoric of anti-LGBT hate mongers from the U.S. who have promoted these policies abroad.

“I’m asking people to show their solidarity. Share this – let people know what’s going on in the world because you can’t stand by.”

Whoopi Goldberg