Whoopi Goldberg discovered that she has a famous long lost cousin — and she was left speechless when she found out who it was.
During an episode of The View on Tuesday, January 2, the historian and host of Finding Your Roots, Henry Louis Gates Jr., appeared on-air to give Goldberg, 68, some shocking news. (Goldberg had previously made an appearance on an earlier season of Gates Jr. ‘s series.)
“On the first series, I did [a number of Black celebrities including] Whoopi and we didn’t have the sophisticated tests that we now use for DNA at that time,” Gates Jr., 73, explained. “You all know about DNA cousins? You have a DNA cousin, dear … Tony Gonzalez is your DNA cousin.” (Gonzalez, 47, is a former NFL player and regarded as one of the greatest tight ends of all time.)
After hearing that the NFL Hall of Famer was her distant relative, Goldberg couldn’t believe the news. “That’s my cousin?!” she asked.
While Goldberg may have been at a loss for words, her cohosts on The View had a lot of thoughts on her new cousin.
“He is smokin’!” Sunny Hostin shared while Joy Behar added that they “could be kissing cousins.”
At the end of the episode, Goldberg asked Gonzales to come to “see [her]” and appear on an episode of The View.
“We’d like to have you here at The View,” the talk show host explained. “Tony Gonzalez, come on!”
This isn’t the first time Gates Jr. has shocked celebrities with their family history. In January 2023, the Finding Your Roots host told Edward Norton that historical figure Pocahontas is actually his 12th great-grandmother.
“I understand that was family lore [you heard growing up],” Gates Jr. explained to the actor during a season 9 episode of Finding Your Roots. “Well, it is absolutely true.”
Gates Jr. went on to explain that Norton’s family lineage can be traced back to John Rolfe, an English settler that married Pocahontas.
“This is about as far back as you can go unless you’re a Viking,” Norton gushed. “Makes you realize what a small piece of the whole human story you are.”
In addition to Pocahontas, Gates Jr. also revealed that Norton’s third great-grandfather, John Winstead, once owned slaves according to the 1850 census of North Carolina.
“The short answer is these things are uncomfortable, and you should be uncomfortable with them, everybody should be uncomfortable with it,” Norton shared. “It’s not a judgment on you and your own life, but it’s a judgment on the history of this country and it needs to be acknowledged first and foremost, and then it needs to be contended with.”
