Just one day after her birthday on the 13th, Whoopi Goldberg has fallen sick with COVID-19 once again.
The veteran co-host was noticeably absent during Monday morning’s episode of The View. Her rep later confirmed to Entertainment Weekly that the actress has indeed contracted the virus for the second time this year after not feeling well prior to the show’s taping. She’s expected to be out until she recovers.
Co-hosts Sarah Haines, Sunny Hostin, Ana Navarro and Alyssa Farah Griffin took over. Co-host Joy Behar was absent due to it being time off.
Hopefully, Goldberg can recover quickly, especially considering the fact that she’s recently been tapped to join the upcoming Mario Van Peebles-directed Western film, Outlaws.
Starring alongside Peebles, Cedric the Entertainer, Allen Payne, DC Young Fly and more, the forthcoming feature centers around Chief, “a renegade cowboy putting together a multicultural team of new and old friends in order to ride into dangerous unsettled territory to retrieve gold from an abandoned mine. Hot on Chief’s tail is Angel, a spurned lawman and Civil War veteran with a thirst for vengeance. So begins a cross-country journey, with Chief and his band of Outlaws crossing paths with a number of interesting historical characters along the way.”
As previously reported by The Root, Peebles will play the titular character while Goldberg will portray the real-life figure Stagecoach Mary. For those unaware, Mary “Stagecoach Mary” Fields was the first African-American star route carrier, an independent contractor who carried mail using a stagecoach. Going from town to town with a rifle and revolver, according to History.com, Stagecoach Mary was a force to be reckoned with, due largely in part to her no-nonsense attitude and her tall, intimidating demeanor.
It’ll be interesting to see how Goldberg and the rest of the cast bring this new iteration of a Black Western to life. Get well soon, Whoopi!