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- Whoopi Goldberg said in a recent episode of "The View" that she prioritized her career over her child.
- Her comments were in response to UK singer Lily Allen who said her children "ruined" her career.
- "I chose my career because I knew this would never happen again," Goldberg said.
Actress and TV personality Whoopi Goldberg recently shared the price of achieving fame and success, and it was prioritizing her career over her child.
Goldberg shared her experience in an episode of the talk show "The View" alongside co-hosts Joy Behar, Sunny Hostin, Sara Haines, and Alyssa Farah Griffin.
The topic of discussion was about whether women can have both success in their careers and in motherhood at the same time.
The discussion was sparked by comments made by UK singer Lily Allen on the Radio Times podcast.
"My children ruined my career," Allen said on the podcast. "It really annoys me when people say you can have it all, because, quite frankly, you can't."
On "The View" episode, Goldberg asked the hosts whether parents need to make a choice or if people can find a way to balance motherhood with their careers.
"My kid came before my career and I chose my career because I knew this would never happen again," Goldberg said. "She didn't always like it but that is the process of being a parent. They're not supposed to like everything you do."
Goldberg, who became a mother to her only child Alex Martin in 1973 when she was 18 years old, said she always traveled with her daughter when she went on tour. Martin would sit in the theater with her.
Co-host Sunny Hostin also weighed in on the debate: "I really think that you do have to prioritize certain things. You can't have everything all at the same time. You can have it at different times."
"My career has suffered, I think, but I don't think my children have," she explained.
Goldberg made her name in Hollywood by starring in films like "The Color Purple" in 1985, "Ghost" in 1990 which she won an Oscar for, and "Sister Act" in 1992. She has been a co-host for "The View" since 2007.
Harvard professor and Nobel Prize winner Claudia Goldin told Business Insider previously that the earnings gap between men and women still exists in high-income countries because of the "motherhood penalty" — the idea that when women have children their hours and earnings drop.
Goldin's 16-year-long analysis of graduates from top MBA schools found that women who had children were more likely to have less job experience, more interruptions to their careers, and reduced earnings — none of which was the case for their male counterparts.