For mothers, work-life balance is not always a 50 - 50 split. The idea of having it all is impossible when you’re trying to climb the corporate ladder and run the PTA – that is, if you want to get any sleep at night. Actress and The View panel moderator Whoopi Goldberg knows that all too well. And she opened up to her co-hosts about a difficult choice she had to make while raising her daughter, Alexandrea Martin.
On the March 12 episode of The View, Goldberg shared that she prioritized her acting career while raising now 50-year-old Alex, because as a struggling actor, she knew the opportunity for stardom may never come her way again.
“My kid came before my career, and I chose my career because I knew this would never happen again,” Goldberg said. “She didn’t always like it, but that is the process of being a parent. They’re not supposed to like everything you do.”
The EGOT winner added that although she put work first, her daughter was a constant companion. She even made cameo appearances in a couple of Goldberg’s films, The Color Purple and Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit.
“The idea was I never didn’t travel with my kid. I mean, even when I wasn’t famous, when we went on tour, she sat in the theatre with me. Wherever I went she went,” she said.
Her comments came up during the Hot Topics segment as the panel discussed singer Lily Allen’s remarks about how becoming a mom forced her to step back from stardom.
“My children ruined my career,” Allen joked on the RadioTimes podcast. She adds that she chose to step out of the spotlight and be there for her children because of her own experience growing up with parents who weren’t always around.