Whoopi Goldberg Walks Back Her Own Claim About Going to Jail

Whoopi Goldberg left The View audience confused after walking back her own comment about spending time in jail.  

During the Hot Topics segment on Wednesday, March 6, the panel pulled the next topic of discussion from a sparkly “HT” bag that was dropped from the ceiling, with Goldberg reading from a piece of paper, “Would you rather hike the Appalachian Trail by yourself or spend six months in jail?”

After Joy Behar said she’d “rather watch Netflix,” Alyssa Farrah Griffin and Sunny Hostin opted for the Appalachian Trail (which Behar called “a stupid choice”), Sara Haines said she’d rather go to jail, as long as she’s not in gen-pop. 

Goldberg, 68, then weighed in, quipping, “Well, I’ve done both.” 

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Behar desperately wanted more details, asking, “When were you in jail?” Goldberg replied, “I’ll tell you about it.”

The show later went to a commercial break, and when it returned, Goldberg took time to clarify her alleged stint behind bars. 

“I don’t want people freaking out,” said the EGOT winner. “There are jokes. When you say, ‘Yeah, maybe I did the Appalachian Trail and went to jail,’ don’t get it twisted. I’m a humorist, OK?”

She then discouraged anyone from trying to find information about it. 

“Stop looking it up,” she quipped. “That’s what I know is happening, is that right? People are looking, ‘When did she go to jail?’ You’ll be looking until the cows come home, honey.”

A brief dig reveals that Goldberg was arrested in May 1985 at the University of California Berkeley’s campus during a protest over racial policies in South Africa. She and Berkeley’s then-mayor Gus Newport were taken into custody with about a dozen others for blocking entrances to the headquarters, per an Associated Press syndicated article on The New York Times.

She appeared at Berkeley Municipal Court and was later “released after signing a promise to appear June 6 on the charge of blocking a public entrance.”