Robin Thede Tearfully Thanks Whoopi Goldberg For Showing Her That Black Women ‘Can Play Characters and Be Funny’
Comedy star Robin Thede shared an emotional moment with comedy legend Whoopi Goldberg during her recent appearance on “The View.”
Thede was there to promote season 4 of her HBO Max series “A Black Lady Sketch Show,” and decided to take a moment to give flowers to Goldberg for serving as her early inspiration as a Black woman in comedy.
“I’m not gonna cry, but you were the first woman that showed me that Black women can play characters and be funny,” Thede said through tears.
“I talk about this all the time. I hope you don’t think I’m a stalker, ’cause I talk about you constantly in interviews, but when I saw your Broadway show on television and you put that shirt on your head…This character. She talked about identity and how ‘I wanna be white because that’s what I’m supposed to be, but then she came back to love herself. It was funny and it was real.”
“I had never seen that, so thank you. I’ve been waiting my whole life to tell you thank you.”
“I’ve been waiting my whole life to tell you thank you.”@robinthede tells our #WhoopiGoldberg that she’s the reason she got into sketch comedy: “You were the first woman that showed me that Black women can play characters and be funny.” https://t.co/cVclFZQmjA pic.twitter.com/8aqRRrgMVs
— The View (@TheView) April 5, 2023
Goldberg is hailed as the first Black woman to reach EGOT status having won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony ahead of John Legend, Jennifer Hudson, and Viola Davis who most recently became an EGOT recipient. With 40 years in the business, “The Color Purple” star has achieved feats others can only dream of.
Yet, Goldberg remained humble and returned the love by passing the torch to Thede and celebrating her contributions to comedy.
“Kids now have you,” Goldberg told Thede. “And that is not just a small thing, that’s a huge thing because you have invited an entire room full of Black women to write comedy. This is unheard of.”
“There are not rooms full of white women writing comedy, so this is a huge thing,” she added. “And that’s what you did. So thank you.”
Season 4 of “A Black Lady Sketch Show” premieres on April 14.