Whoopi Goldberg Mistakenly Ate a Bag of Cat Treats After Vatican Visit

Whoopi Goldberg is sharing the story of how the combination of jet lag and late-night hunger led to a cat-astrophe.

Goldberg, 68, recalled the hilarious mishap on the Monday, June 17, episode of The View, explaining to her cohosts that she mistakenly ate a bag of Temptations cat treats last week, thinking they were pretzels after she got back from a trip to Italy, where she met Pope Francis.

“I got home. Perhaps I was a little more jet lagged than I realized. I was not high. I had nothing to drink,” she began. “It is 2 in the morning and there are these wonderful pretzels called Dot’s Pretzels, which I love. So sometimes, you know, when you get a bag of Dot’s Pretzels, they’re broken in half.”

Noting that her daughter, Alex Martin, played a part in the mixup by leaving a bag of cat treats next to Goldberg’s Dot’s pretzels, the Sister Act alum explained that she got up in the middle of the night to grab a snack.

“So I reach over and I pour some Dot’s in my hand and I put ‘em in my mouth. I’m chewing. [These may be] a little stale!” Goldberg recounted, which prompted cohost Sunny Hostin to ask if she thought it was a new flavor.

“No, no. I just poured some more in because maybe I thought, you know, bed mouth. You know, because sometimes you wake up and you got something in your mouth and you’re like, ‘Who is this?’” Goldberg continued. “So I pour some more. ‘Why do these taste so bad?’ My eye finally kind of opened a little bit, and in my hand was the Crabby flavor Temptations!”

Though Goldberg’s cat treat misfortune was a humbling experience, she was able to still find the humor in it. “Now I just came from the Vatican, and I am eating Crabby Crab flavor Temptations,” she joked.

While many social media users appreciated Goldberg’s honesty in sharing an embarrassing story, some fans were divided about whether the topic deserved a segment on the daytime talk show.

“Okay, this was hilarious. I love when people tell embarrassing stories about themselves and they don’t take things too seriously. @dotspretzels and @TemptationsCats – send her a gift package for her bedside and cat please,” wrote one follower via X.

Another added, “Whoopi’s jet lag got the best of her, but I don’t think late night snacks should be a topic for national news! #TheView needs to stick to real issues.”

Goldberg was among more than 100 comedians who met with Pope Francis on Friday, June 14, but this isn’t the first time Goldberg has brushed elbows with the pope. During an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in May, the actress recalled meeting him for the first time in 2023.

“I went to see him and he actually seems to be a bit of a fan,” Goldberg told host Jimmy Fallon. “Sister Act, hello?!”

(Goldberg confirmed that Sister Act 3 was in the works in 2020. Actress Tanya Trotter, who starred in the sequel, confirmed earlier this month that the script was finished.)

When Fallon asked whether Pope Francis threw his hat in the ring for an appearance in the third installment in the beloved film series, Goldberg replied, “No, but I offered one. He said he’d see what his time was like.”

Goldberg starred in the first Sister Act film in 1992 as Deloris Van Cartier, a lounge singer who joins a convent after being placed in a witness protection program. The film was a box office hit — earning over $230 million — and Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit was released one year later. A Broadway musical based on the movie debuted in 2011.