Whoopi Goldberg has taken to the skies—literally. The Sister Act and The View star has officially overcome her long-held fear of flying, something that once kept her grounded for decades.
At 69, Whoopi is now freely jetting to destinations like the Bahamas and Italy, a far cry from her old habit of crisscrossing the U.S. in a luxury tour bus just to avoid air travel.
Speaking on The View, her co-hosts proudly shared a photo of her sitting in the cockpit of a commercial airplane during the holiday weekend. Whoopi opened up about the transformation, saying:
“People keep saying, ‘So what’s happened? Now you seem to be able to fly?’ The truth of the matter is I hated, hated, hated, hated it, for so many reasons. And then someone gave me something that allowed me to fly, and so I take it, and I am okay, and I don’t cry!”
Whoopi didn’t name the medication or remedy that helped, but her comfort in the cockpit speaks volumes.
Her fear of flying wasn’t just general anxiety—it was rooted in trauma. Back in a 2005 interview on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, she revealed that a man once died next to her on a flight, slumping over onto her mid-air.
“A guy passed away next to me. This is not cute… He slumped onto me, and I’m like, ‘Get off me!’ The stewardess was patting him, and I said, ‘Just pick him up, just pull him off me!’ Then she said, ‘I think he’s dead.’”
Even then, the flight crew informed her there was nowhere else to move the body due to a full flight.
Understandably shaken, Whoopi swapped airports for asphalt, famously making the 43-hour cross-country journey by bus between New York and Los Angeles for interviews and appearances.
Describing her mobile sanctuary, she once said:
“It’s kind of like a bus Dolly Parton would be on, except there’s some strange stuff on it… toys, a flatscreen TV, a big bed, dirty sheets—it’s heaven.”
Now, with her wings finally spread, Whoopi is not only flying but thriving—and smiling while doing it.
