Whoopi Goldberg Surprises Everyone at The View After Long Illness

If you think about it, The View is a revolutionary television concept.

Late night is dominated by white guys talking about important stuff, with Samantha Bee’s half hour as the exception. And single-host talk shows like Oprah freed up space for female perspectives in the afternoon. But there really had never been a program where a group of women discuss heavy topics in a fun way on TV before The View. While some of the hosts use their high profile positions to spread misunderstandings about women’s health, others, like Whoopi Goldberg bring mostly relatable truths to the table. That’s why fans missed seeing Goldberg on the show in the past month while she was suffering from double pneumonia and sepsis, and rejoiced in her surprise appearance today.

Just as Joy Behar was announcing that Goldberg would be out longer, the Sister Act actress appeared all in white like a Ghost behind her. The crowd chanted her name and people at home literally cried. The comedian and actor got her start with The Spook Show, a one woman show in which she performed as incredibly impactful cast of characters.

Behar had also joked that Goldberg was on maternity leave and people actually asked the 63-year-old The Color Purple star how she got pregnant (insert blushing emoji).

“There’s death and here’s me,” Goldberg shared about how seriously her health scare was. Her caution to viewers was to make sure take care of yourself, to care for every cough you get. “There’s little tiny stuff out there that will kill you,” she said. Goldberg also realized how impotent insurance companies are though this experience. This launched a short discussion on the challenges of the uninsured and on how shitty insurance companies are. Which, duh.

When the comedian mentioned that a couple people that visited her at the hospital, Meghan McCain pointed out that they all visited her at the hospital. Fans felt McCain was making Goldberg’s return all about herself.

“Y’all have to be the advocate for yourself,” Goldberg concluded on the topic of healthcare before talking about her cat’s reaction to her long stint at the hospital. The cat pooped on her lap.

Here are some of the sassy responses from fans on Twitter.