We’ve all seen our fair share of intoxicated celebrities at award ceremonies (remember Whitney Houston at the 2001 BET Awards?), but most would never think that actress Whoopi Goldberg would be one of them. But as she admits in a new viral video from 1992, she was as high as a kite when she accepted her Oscar during the 1991 Academy Awards.
The video, which was posted by tmz.com, shows Goldberg during a voice-over session for the movie The Pagemaster, explaining that she smoked a joint before the ceremony to calm her nerves.
“Smoking cigarettes and pot every now and then are my habits,” said Goldberg. “And I thought, ‘I’ve got to relax.’ So I smoked this wonderful joint that was the last of my homegrown.”
During the ceremony, Goldberg won the award for Best Supporting Actress, but as she reveals, the only thing on her mind when she won was just making it onto the stage.
“When he [presenter Denzel Washington] said my name and I popped up, I thought, ‘Oh f— … OK, up the stairs … around to the podium … there’s millions of people, pick up the statue, get the statue,” explained Goldberg.
In the video, Goldberg also explained that her mother called her after the ceremony to chastise her for being high, a fact that she realized once she saw her daughter’s “glistening eyes” on stage.
Although Goldberg admits that she enjoys marijuana, she finishes out the video by warning others not to follow in her footsteps.
“I know you’re not supposed to admit that you smoke pot, but I don’t drink alcohol. Just because I do it doesn’t mean you should,” she said.
Thanks for the advice, Ms. Goldberg. You’re truly a sage.
What do you think of Goldberg’s marijuana confession? –nicholas robinson
