Whoopi Goldberg paid tribute to Barbara Walters after her death at the age of 93. The Oscar winner, 67, paid tribute to her former co-host during an episode of The View, celebrating Barbara’s life on Tuesday, January 3. Before going to a commercial break, Whoopi perfectly summarized the icon’s career. “There was nobody like her,” she said. “She’s the first, and there are many of us duplicates, but there’ll never be another Barbara Walters.”
Barbara’s death was confirmed by her longtime former employer ABC News on Friday, Dec. 30. In a statement to HollywoodLife, her rep said that she “passed away peacefully in her home surrounded by loved ones. She lived her life with no regrets. She was a trailblazer not only for female journalists, but for all women.”
Since Barbara’s passing, many of her former View co-hosts have paid tribute to the woman who created the beloved talk show on social media, including Rosie O’Donnell, Lisa Ling, and more. Joy Behar, who is the only original host still on the show, spoke about the legendary broadcaster in an interview on ABC. “She became a mentor. She’s very much the role model for a lot of people in showbiz and the news world for sure,” Joy said. “I’ll miss her.”
Whoopi and Barbara began a working relationship when the Sister Act actress joined the series as moderator in 2007, a decade after Barbara launched the trailblazing talk show. The View first went to air in 1997, with original hosts Meredith Vieira, Star Jones, and Debbie Matenopoulos, with Joy Behar rounding out the group shortly after. Whoopi still holds the current role as show moderator.
Barbara retired from The View in 2014 at the age of 85, and slowly led a more private life in recent years. Her five decade career, however, will be forever remembered: through her time in television, she earned 12 Emmy Awards, 11 of which were with ABC News. In 1997, she launched the first-ever all female talk show with The View, once again breaking a glass ceiling and going to inspire later shows like The Talk and The Real.
After her death, Bob Iger, the CEO of The Walt Disney Company — which includes ABC — paid tribute to her. “Barbara was a true legend, a pioneer not just for women in journalism but for journalism itself,” he wrote. “She was a one-of-a-kind reporter who landed many of the most important interviews of our time, from heads of state to the biggest celebrities and sports icons. I had the pleasure of calling Barbara a colleague for more than three decades, but more importantly, I was able to call her a dear friend,” he added.
“She will be missed by all of us at The Walt Disney Company, and we send our deepest condolences to her daughter, Jacqueline,” he also said.