Impressive: Whoopi Goldberg Took a Nap on Live Television to Protest ‘Wicked’ Conversation….Read More

Snoozing or “holding space”? You decide.

Whoopi Goldberg isn’t holding space for discussions she doesn’t care about. While Wicked has generated significant buzz and spawned social media moments since its November 22 debut, The View host showed her disinterest as she had a faux nap on live TV during a discussion about one of the biggest memes to come out of the movie.

On Tuesday, November 26, Goldberg playfully checked out of the conversation, laying her head on her hand and pretending to doze off as her panelists weighed in on the “holding space” meme that’s gone viral after a journalist used the phrase during a press junket.

Just days after the November 5 election, Tracy E. Gilchrist told Wicked co-stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, “This week, people are taking the lyrics to ‘Defying Gravity’ and really holding space with that and feeling power in that.” The phrase–which refers to deeply emotionally empathizing with someone–was met with some confusion from viewers, but Erivo got visibly emotional as she responded, “I didn’t know that was happening. That’s really powerful. That’s what I wanted”

As Gilchrist responded, “I’ve seen it on a couple posts, I don’t know how widespread. But I am in queer media,” Grande comfortingly reached over and grasped Erivo’s long fingernail and tapped it in a gesture of support—and several memes were born, with people “holding space” for much less serious dilemmas.

During The View segment, the talk show personality said she didn’t get the phrase, introducing the Hot Topics discussion by saying, “Apparently, this has struck a chord with people. Why? I don’t know.” In response, panelists Sunny Hostin and Alyssa Farah Griffin recreated the “Defying Gravity” moment by grasping each other’s hands à la Elphaba and Glinda. However, Goldberg wasn’t having it, and she showed her disinterest by closing her eyes during the conversation.

Hostin explained that, per Psychology Today, “holding space” is the “practice of making space for somebody else’s experience and centering them” that “fosters listening and empathizing” in response to a confused Joy Behar, who then pointed at a slumbering Goldberg.

Whoopi took a nap throughout this entire segment,” Behar commented, to which Hostin chimed in, “She’s holding space for her self-care.” A smiling Goldberg then pretended to wake up now that the conversation was over, and sent the show to an ad break.