Whoopi Goldberg Issues Pointed Warning to Fans After Revealing She Spread Her Mother's Ashes at Disneyland
Whoopi Goldberg is sharing some special details about how she honored her late mother, Emma Harris, after her death, even if it may raise some eyebrows—and the admission comes with a stark warning.
The View cohost sat down with Seth Meyers while visiting Late Night on Wednesday, July 10, candidly revealing how she spread her mom's ashes following her Aug. 29, 2010, passing—by spreading them around a theme park.
Before explaining the method in which she released the remains, officially sending her loved one off, she warned, "No one should do this," which caused the crowd to laugh. But Goldberg doubled down, making sure to emphasize, "Don't do it."
"My mother loved Disneyland, and so we took her to Disneyland," she explained. "And when I was a kid, the World's Fair was here, and it was the introduction of Small World, and she loved Small World."
To accomplish the feat, the history-making EGOT winner said she would "scoop some of her up" before faking a huge sneeze, confessing that she also left some ashes near the "flowers, where it says Disneyland."
But she couldn't keep it under wraps for long, as she admitted to Meyers that she "told them I did it."
"I wanted to make sure, actually, that I hadn't done something that was dangerous 'cause it hadn't occurred to me. But there's a reason they don't want ashes just floatin' around," she said.
What makes the story even sweeter, though, is her family history with the theme park, and her mom's affinity for it. In December, Goldberg shared on an episode of The View that her mother had always said she'd take her and her brother Clyde to the famed amusement park, but never had the funds to do so.
As for others hoping to get an idea to do the same, it is strictly prohibited, as a Disneyland official told The Los Angeles Times in 2007 that the answer is "always" no, even when families seek permission.
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While Goldberg may have felt joy spreading her mom's ashes somewhere she knew she loved, the aftermath of losing close family members has been a tough reality to deal with.
She recently opened up in a vulnerable new interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper, where she reflected on a time in her life when she was struggling with her mental health as grief began to take over her.
"I once flirted with thinking about leaving," the Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit star emotionally admitted, seemingly hinting at previous thoughts of suicide.
Goldberg's mother died as the result of a stroke, and her brother passed just five years later after suffering a brain aneurysm in 2015, at the age of 65.
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