Whoopi Goldberg: 'You cannot be friends with your kids'

Award-winning actress Whoopi Goldberg is dishing out some advice to parents who want to be friends with their children. 

The 68-year-old, who is a co-host on ABC's popular talk show, 'The View', has an adult daughter named Alexandrea 'Alex' Martin. 

Whoopi revealed on the show that she only became friends with Alex when she was in her mid twenties. 

"You can yell at me if you want to but I believe this is true. You cannot be friends with your kids - when you have to do the things that you have to do as a parent," she said.

Co-host Joy Behar then asked Whoopi when can parents and their children become friends.  

"Me and my daughter are really tight as you know. When she went in at 13 and became this whole other person, and she emerged at 26," Whoopi replied. 

Some of the hosts were surprised that Whoopi suggested 26, with Joy saying maybe 22. 

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'The Color Purple' star was 18 when she gave birth to Alex - whom she shares with her first husband, Alvin Martin. Alex, 49, is Whoopi's only child. She is also an actress and producer. 

It's not the first time Whoopi has advised parents not to be friends with their kids. She told viewers in 2015 to "quit trying to be friends with your kids". 

"My daughter and I are friends, but what I realised, I still had to be the bad guy, because that's my job," she said. 

Whoopi reiterated her stance during another discussion in 2023. She stressed that parents can eventually become friends "but only after they pass the point where they have to take care of themselves". 

Co-host Sunny Hostin said she preferred not to be friends with her children - even when they are adults. 

"I have seen a lot of friends make that mistake and then, when you've gotta put the hammer down, they're looking at you like, 'You're my best friend and you broke my heart.' And so I have tried very hard, even with adult children, not to be their friend," EW quoted her as saying on the show.

Sunny added: "I love my mom, I adore her but I'm not going to treat her like my friend." 

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Main image credit: YouTube/The View