Whoopi Goldberg says cats followed her for three days after famous Annie Leibowitz photo shoot
Actor also discussed how the famous image took on a different meaning in later years
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Whoopi Goldberg has recalled the famous 1984 shoot she did with American photographer Annie Leibovitz, in which she was depicted emerging from a bath of milk.
Discussing the portrait with The Times, the actor and talk show host said the idea for the image didn’t have any particular meaning behind it.
“Listen, it’s a Black girl coming through milk,” the Sister Act star said. “It’s really no more than that. We weren’t that deep when we shot it. [Leibowitz] was like, ‘I think this would make a great picture.’ ‘OK,’ says I. ‘I have to get in the milk?’ She said, ‘Yes. And it’s like you’re fighting your way through.’ So that’s what we did.”
Goldberg said she lay in the milk for seven hours, which was great for the skin, but also had another side-effect.
“For three days, cats followed me,” she said. “And I couldn’t figure out why. I’d be sitting doing something, and suddenly there’d be like four or five cats rubbing up on me.”
On the later significance the image took on as “a Black actor pushing out of a white world”, as noted by the interviewer, Goldberg responded: “I was like, ‘What?’ It’s just me in milk.’”
In November, Goldberg was absent from her spot on The View after testing positive for Covid-19 for the second time this year.
That same month, she quit Twitter in protest against Elon Musk’s takeover of the social media platform.
“It’s been a little over a week since Elon Musk took over Twitter and this place is a mess,” she said on The View.
“I just feel like it’s so messy and I’m tired of now having certain attitudes blocked now getting back on. So I’m gonna get out, and if it settles down enough and I feel more comfortable, maybe I’ll come back. But as of tonight, I’m done.”