Whoopi Goldberg details past struggles with drugs and family in new memoir

Goldberg writes, "I looked at myself in the mirror near the door and saw cocaine all over my face”

Whoopi Goldberg is offering a glimpse into her life story in her new memoir, "Bits and Pieces: My Mother, My Brother, and Me." Released on Tuesday, the book dives into Goldberg's personal experiences, including her struggles with drug addiction, her relationship with her late mother, and her rise to Hollywood stardom.

Goldberg writes about falling into cocaine addiction in the 1980s, a time when drug use was prevalent at social gatherings in Los Angeles and New York. She initially underestimated the drug's effects, believing she could handle it.

"It was a really good time for about a year," she wrote in the memoir. "Then I fell into the deep well of cocaine and sank to a new low."

A turning point came when Goldberg realized the severity of her addiction. She described a moment when she was found by a housekeeper with cocaine all over her face.

"I looked at myself in the mirror near the door and saw cocaine all over my face," Goldberg wrote. "Get up, get out, and fix your life,' she recalled thinking. 'You've been sitting in a closet for two days. It's not good.'"

Luckily, Goldberg said she was able to quit drugs quickly. She didn't want to die or disappoint her family, so she stopped using.

"I had already decided that I was willing and ready to stop, so I was going to do whatever I needed to stop putting drugs up my nose," she said.

The memoir also details Goldberg's challenging childhood. 

Her mother, Emma Harris, struggled financially as a single parent and faced mental health issues. Goldberg recounted how her mother disappeared for two years during her childhood, later learning she had been hospitalized and underwent electroshock therapy.

Goldberg also opened up about her brief foray into dyslexia as a child, a condition not widely recognised in the 1960s. She described employing memorization techniques to cope with reading difficulties in school.

The book also sheds light on the origins of her stage name, Whoopi Goldberg. Goldberg reveals her mother suggested the name "Goldberg" after her initial stage name, "Whoopi Cushion," lacked seriousness.