The “The View” co-host’s memoir, “Bits & Pieces: My Mother, My Brother and Me,” reportedly didn’t live up to expectations.
Whoopi Goldberg has had a stellar, decades-spanning career that features dozens of acting appearances, numerous accolades, and a long stint as host of ABC’s “The View,” but a recent career setback has reportedly hit her hard. Earlier this year, Goldberg released her autobiography, “Bits & Pieces: My Mother, My Brother and Me,” but despite ample hype in the weeks leading up to its release, the book failed to live up to expectations, leaving Goldberg “devastated.”
“Despite heavy hype, the book rocketed to number 800 on the bestseller list in just a few weeks,” a source revealed to Closer.
Bits & Pieces: My Mother, My Brother and Me, due to be officially released in May by Blackstone Publishing, focuses primarily on the two people who had the greatest influence in Goldberg’s life: her mother, Emma Harris, who passed away in August 2010, and her brother, Clyde K. Johnson, who died of a brain aneurysm five years later. Described as an “intimate and heartfelt memoir” and “a moving tribute from a daughter to her mother, and a beautiful portrait of three people who loved each other deeply,” the book traces Goldberg’s life from growing up in public housing in New York City to her rise to fame. The memoir also includes “deeply personal stories” and revelations from Goldberg, including her ’80s cocaine use and her father’s sexual orientation, revealing that her mother underwent electroshock therapy and the important advice she received from Elizabeth Taylor.
Goldberg reportedly had high hopes for the memoir and “thought it would be as successful as Prince Harry and Britney Spears’,” both of whom have released memoirs in recent years, with Harry releasing “Spare” in 2023 and Spears releasing “The Woman in Me” the same year. In fact, expectations for Goldberg’s memoir are so high that a source at Closer said, “She even hoped it would be made into a movie, but sales have been disappointing, so that’s unlikely to happen.” The source added that Goldberg is “devastated by the failure and questions why something that garnered so much attention has flopped so badly.”
While “Bits & Pieces: My Mother, My Brother and Me” may not have been as successful as she hoped, Goldberg still has a lot to celebrate. Goldberg has received numerous awards throughout her career, including winning the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2001, and remains one of only 19 people to have earned the EGOT. Her credits include “Ghost,” “Sister Act” and “The Color Purple.” She currently hosts “The View,” a position she has held since 2007.
