Whoopi Goldberg Gets Candid About Breaking Free Of Her Cocaine Addiction: ‘I Didn’t Want To Die’

Famous actress and talk-show host Whoopi Goldberg has revealed her struggle with cocaine addiction and navigating a culture of drug use in 80s Hollywood.

According to Goldberg, she experienced a jarring moment in a Manhattan hotel, which influenced her decision to break free from drug use.

In her upcoming memoir, "Bits and Pieces: My Mother, My Brother, and Me," Goldberg opens up about her past struggle with cocaine addiction.

"I had stayed pretty far away from drugs, except for pot, after getting cleaned up in the early 70s," Goldberg wrote in her memoir.

However, despite her commitment to staying away from drugs, Goldberg revealed that she found herself faced with a different meaning of "recreational drug use" in the 80s Hollywood and New York scene.

"I was invited to parties where I was greeted at the door with a bowl of Quaaludes from which I could pick what I wanted," the Oscar winner recalled, per Page Six. "Lines of cocaine were laid across tables and bathroom counters for the taking."

Goldberg painted a picture of a "relaxed" atmosphere as everyone "partook" in drug use as they knew that the home of a "big-time producer or actor" would never be raided by police.

She also noted the belief that as a widely accessible substance, cocaine seemed harmless to her, and she initially felt she could "handle" it. For about a year, Goldberg shared that she managed to conceal her drug use and maintain her professional commitments.

In her memoir, Goldberg recounts the harrowing depths of her cocaine addiction. She vividly describes hallucinations, such as seeing a dangerous creature under her bed, which led her to immobilize herself in fear for twenty-four hours.

"So I didn't move out of bed for twenty-four hours," she shared. "That kind of sh-t doesn't end pretty. There's only so long a person can hold their bladder."

As her addiction escalated,  the actress disclosed that she experienced a "slap in the face moment" in a Manhattan hotel room, where a startled housekeeper discovered her amid drug use in a closet.

Goldberg shared that as she stood up to explain to the housekeeper that it was her room, she was confronted with her reflection in the mirror smeared with cocaine.

After the incident, Goldberg said she was resolved to break free from the grip of drugs and considers herself lucky that she was "able to stop using drugs quickly."

"I knew I'd have to change out my friends and turn down invitations but I could do that," she wrote. "I didn't want to die."

In a candid moment on "The View," Goldberg disclosed her decision regarding her estimated $60 million fortune, revealing that her 50-year-old daughter, Alexandrea Martin, will inherit "everything" upon her passing.

Reflecting on fellow celebrity Jeff Goldblum's stance on not wanting his children to rely on his wealth by not helping them "row their boats," the EGOT star humorously remarked, "Well, you're gonna be doing it for them for a while because your kids are very young! I mean, you're not cutting them out now, are you?"

The "Star Trek" alum then questioned how far parents should go in guiding their "kids to find their path?" citing examples of celebrities like Ashton Kutcher and Gordon Ramsay, who have expressed similar intentions of not leaving substantial inheritances for their kids.

"Yeah, okay, that's what the courts are for!" the 68-year-old quipped, adding: "One of the great answers is children learn by what they see. My mother worked her behind off, and so that's why I feel the way I feel, and I'm leaving my kid everything that I have!"

In a recent interview with People magazine ahead of the release of her memoir, Goldberg recounted her mother's mental breakdown and the electroshock therapy she underwent, which erased memories, including those of Goldberg and her late brother, Clyde.

Reflecting on a conversation with her mother, Emma Harris, later in life, Goldberg learned her mother didn't recognize her upon leaving the hospital.

"My mother, at one point when I got older … said, 'Can I tell you a secret?' I was like, 'Sure,'" Goldberg told the news outlet. "She said, 'I didn't know who you were when I got out of the hospital.' It's like, 'I'm sorry, what? I'm sorry, what?' She said, 'Yeah, I had no idea who you were. I just knew I never wanted to go back to that hospital. So I had to do everything I could. If they said the sky was green, and I could see it wasn't green, and it was blue, I'd say, 'Yes, the sky is green.' 'Cause I never wanted it again.'"

Goldberg expressed disbelief at her mother's decades-long silence about this painful secret, noting: "I said to her, 'And nobody knew. You didn't tell anybody.'"

She added, "I said, 'So you carried this for 40 years?' She said, 'Well, what else was I going to do?'"

Goldberg's mother eventually passed away on August 29, 2010, after suffering from a stroke.