Whoopi Goldberg caused a commotion on this morning’s episode of The View when their guest LaTanya Richardson Jackson revealed that her husband Samuel L. Jackson was watching their chat from backstage.
(EDITOR’S NOTE: The View is on hiatus from Monday, July 28 until Tuesday, September 2. The episode that ABC aired today was originally broadcast on March 27, 2025, the same date that the article you are currently reading was first published.)
Richardson Jackson appeared on the daytime talk show to promote her new Broadway play, Purpose. But Sara Haines couldn’t let her leave without mentioning that she and the Oscar-winning actor had been together for 55 years.
“And he’s here with me now because he can’t let me do anything by myself,” Richardson Jackson joked.
The camera panned to a hidden Jackson sitting beside the audience, prompting Goldberg to leave her seat and pull him over to the Hot Topics table by hand — despite her co-hosts’ protests.
“He doesn’t want to come on,” Joy Behar pleaded, as Goldberg replied, “Too late.”
As Goldberg led Jackson to the table, someone handed him a microphone. After he greeted the audience and the co-hosts with friendly waves, Richardson Jackson loudly told her husband, “OK, bye!”
Things only got more chaotic when producers rushed an extra chair to the Hot Topics table. But by the time they arrived, Jackson had already turned around and left the stage.
“This is her moment,” Behar said, reminding everyone that Richardson Jackson was the one they were supposed to be interviewing.
The actress, who met Jackson when they were attending Spelman College, said they never imagined how successful their careers would become when they were just starting out.
“We were doing revolutionary theatre. We were trying to make a difference in the world,” she said. “We weren’t really out here being stars like he became.”
Richardson Jackson added, “Like I tell everybody, I’m a blue-collar worker. I just show up to do the work. Trust me, he was not in a lane that was telling him he was getting ready to be a star. This is work. He was gonna be an actor.”
The View airs on weekdays at 11/10c on ABC.