Actress and TV personality Whoopi Goldberg is looking back on her 1980s cocaine addiction and the moment she knew she had to quit.
In her new memoir, Bits and Pieces: My Mother, My Brother, and Me, the Academy Award-winning actress vividly shares her journey through cocaine addiction, from its beginning to end.
Whoopi Goldberg notes that during the 1980s, Hollywood circles often promoted substance abuse at social events. “Los Angeles and New York started to redefine what ‘recreational drug use’ meant in the ‘80s,” she recalls in the book.
“I was invited to parties where I was greeted at the door with a bowl of Quaaludes from which I could pick what I wanted. Lines of cocaine were laid across tables and bathroom counters for the taking,” she continued.
“Everybody knew the cops weren’t going to raid the Beverly Hills, Bel Air, or Hollywood Hills house of a big-time producer or actor, so the attitude was very relaxed. Everyone partook. You knew you were going to get high for a couple hours and then get laid before the night was over.”
Whoopi Goldberg Recalls When Cocaine Started Causing Problems in Her Life
“I thought I could handle the cocaine thing,” the Sister Act star admitted. “It didn’t seem dangerous. Everybody seemed to have access to it, even on TV and movie sets. The cops were never going to raid a studio either.”
Goldberg wrote for about a year cocaine was fun. Of course, it eventually began to cause major problems in her life.
“I fell into the deep well of cocaine and sank to a new low,” Goldberg explained. “Cocaine started to kick my ass. I’d go to work and realize I was getting sloppy. I didn’t like it. I knew it wasn’t good.”
“At one point, I hallucinated something was under my bed and I’d be attacked if I got up. So I didn’t move out of bed for 24 hours. That kind of s— doesn’t end pretty. There’s only so long a person can hold their bladder.”
However, despite these episodes, the substance abuse continued. Meanwhile, the turning point for her came when a hotel maid discovered her using cocaine in the closet.
Catching her reflection in the mirror, her face smeared with white powder, Whoopi recognized the severity of her addiction. It was this moment of clarity that made her realize she needed to seek help and overcome her problem.
However, Goldberg was able to overcome her drug use swiftly. Motivated by the desire not to die or to be perceived as an addict by her family, she made a decisive move toward sobriety.
“I had already decided that I was willing and ready to stop. I was going to do whatever I needed to stop putting drugs up my nose,” she wrote.