Making a big Whoopi to-do
Whoopi Goldberg, officially named Wednesday as the new moderator of “The View,” calls the job a “big ol’ thrill for me.”
Goldberg jogged down the aisle of the New York studio, slapping hands with the audience, when the announcement was made live on the air by show creator Barbara Walters.
“I love this show,” said Goldberg, one of a select few performers to win an Oscar, Emmy, Tony and Grammy award.
“I love coming on it. I love hanging out with you guys.”
Goldberg replaces Rosie O’Donnell, who left the daytime talk show after less than a year filled with controversy and feuds with Donald Trump and co-star Elisabeth Hasselbeck.
Goldberg, 51, is no stranger to political controversy herself.
She was dumped from a Slim-Fast advertising campaign in 2004 after making a speech mocking the Bush administration at a political rally, at one point using the president’s surname as a sexual reference.
“The View” still needs a replacement for the departed Star Jones Reynolds, with actress Sherri Shepherd a leading candidate for the job.
Pin the tail on the donkey
Melanie “Scary Spice” Brown filed a court petition Wednesday seeking to legally establish Eddie Murphy as the father of her 4-month-old daughter and have him pay child support.
A DNA test has shown Murphy is the father, said a lawyer for the Spice Girls singer. His spokesman declined to comment.
Pre-fatal complications?
Britney Spears threw a baby bottle and yelled, “I am going to kill you!” at two photographers who took pictures of her and her children as they left a Las Vegas spa, according to one shooter’s attorney.
Andrew Deetz, who says he was beaten by Spears’ bodyguard during the incident last Thursday, plans to sue.
Out of sight, man
The newly official ex-Mr. Britney Spears, Kevin Federline, says he plans to stay out of the public eye with their two young sons.
“He’s focused right now on being the best parent that he can be,” said an attorney for Federline, whose divorce from Spears – including a joint custody arrangement – was finalized Monday.
Not-so-simple new life
Ending severe speculation, Nicole Richie has confirmed that she’s four months pregnant by Good Charlotte singer Joel Madden.
Richie discusses her pregnancy and the four-day jail sentence she received last week for DUI on ABC’s “Good Morning America” today and Friday and on “20/20” Friday night.
Maybe she can buy a brain
Finally, Richie’s jailbird gal-pal Paris Hilton has landed a role in a futuristic movie musical titled “Repo! The Genetic Opera.”
Hilton will play the fame-seeking daughter of the owner of a company that sells body organs on an installment plan – and takes them back when people don’t pay.
The birthday bunch
Actor Peter O’Toole is 75. Actor Butch Patrick (“The Munsters”) is 54. Actress Mary-Louise Parker is 43.