On this morning’s show, Whoopi Goldberg angrily expressed her frustration with the media and internet for prying into and sharing private details about her life without her permission. In particular, she mentioned that her age, birthday, and full name are widely available online.
The controversy began when IMDb decided that, in light of recent pressure from GLAAD and SAG-AFTRA waged against the website, it would now allow professionals working in the film and television industry to choose whether or not they want their age or birth name displayed on the database. Goldberg pretended to be nonchalant about the situation, saying “I don’t care,” but it was evident that she was more invested than she admitted.
She added, “All that information is out there. I don’t like that it says, well, ‘they’ve agreed to allow industry professionals.’ You haven’t agreed to allow me to do anything. I asked you not to print it, and you printed it anyway. Why am I happy that 40 years later you’ve made a change?”
Sunny Hostin noted that women’s ages are spotlighted more often than men, but Goldberg disagreed, stating “they do it to everyone.”
“Don’t print my personal information,” she said. “If I don’t ask you to print it, why are you doing it? Cause you think you have the right. This is the point that, for me, unless you can fix that, explaining to people that you don’t have the right to have this information unless I share it with you,” she paused to collect herself, before adding, “I’m sure this is great for other people. I’m just bitching because I’m old.”
Years ago, People magazine interviewed Behar for a story. The interviewer asked her for her age, and she asked them not to print it in the article. However, the DMV would give away her age anyway.
“It’s out of your hands,” she stated. “It’s absolutely sinful that they do it.”
