Tiffany Haddish received a heartwarming surprise from her beloved idol: Whoopi Goldberg.
During her guest-hosting appearance on The Ellen DeGenerous Show on Friday, the Bad Trip star, 42, received a video message from Goldberg to celebrate Haddish’s history-making Grammy win. Haddish’s “Black Mitzvah” is the second album by a Black woman to win a Grammy for Best Comedy Album.
Goldberg made history in 1985 by becoming the first Black woman to win in the category for “Whoopi Goldberg: Original Broadway Show Recording.”
“That’s the one I won 155 years ago,” Goldberg joked.
“And if I was there right now, I’d say, ‘Congratulations, but it’s not a surprise cause you’re one funny woman, one funny woman. You know what I really wanna say,” Goldberg said. “But I don’t wanna say it like that, because I don’t wanna get hit by lightning. But she’s funny. So I’d say just, ‘Congratulations.'”
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Haddish, who has won an Emmy and Grammy, looks to follow in Goldberg’s shoes and become an EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony) winner, saying proudly, “I’m already working on the O and the T.”
In a viral clip, Haddish learned of her win while hosting the CBS reboot “Kids Say the Darndest Things” and was brought to tears when a producer confirmed the news.
“Y’all serious? I really won? You know a Black woman hasn’t won in that category since 1986? A Black woman hasn’t won in that category since Whoopi Goldberg,” she said.
Haddish used the moment to inspire the two young girls on set and what it meant to her.
“Can I tell you why I’m crying? It’s a lot of bumpy roads that you cross and it’s a lot of times you feel like, ‘What? Am I doing the right thing? Is this good enough? Am I good enough? Am I strong enough to do this job?’ And you just have to believe in yourself as much as you can and against all odds, you just say, ‘You know what? I’m gonna put my best foot forward and I’m gonna give the world the best that I’ve got.’ Anything is possible.”
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Haddish previously said that Goldberg was her inspiration and spoke about how she “fell in love” with her in the 1986 movie “Jumpin’ Jack Flash.”
In 2018, they starred together as mother and daughter in Tyler Perry’s “Nobody’s Fool” and during a guest appearance on The View in the same year, Haddish told Goldberg, “When I saw you do that movie I was like ‘I want her to be my momma, I want to learn from her, I want her to tell me what’s right and what’s wrong.’”
She continued, “I would pray on it all the time! Like, one day I’m gonna work with her, one day we’re going to be friends, one day we’re going to know each other, and then like God answered my dreams!”
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