Whoopi Goldberg had elevator ‘fart war’ with Robin Williams and Billy Crystal
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Whoopi Goldberg was once involved in an elevator “fart war” with Robin Williams and Billy Crystal, according to her granddaughter.
Amara Skye Dean shared her “favorite” story from the “View” co-host, 66, on Entertainment Weekly’s clip from “Claim to Fame” on Monday.
The tale involved Williams, who died in 2014 at age 65, and his “Father’s Day” co-star, 74.
“[She], Robin Williams and Billy Crystal [were] standing in an elevator, and Robin Williams was just farting his life away,” Dean explained. “I guess they were Dutch-ovening each other, just basking in the ambiance of farts.”
She added that Goldberg, whose real name is Caryn Johnson, got her stage moniker because “she likes to fart.”
Dean explained, “Whoopee cushions, farts. That’s how Caryn Johnson became Whoopi Goldberg.”
![whoopi goldberg, billy crystal and robin williams](https://pagesix.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/08/whoopi-goldberg-billy-crystal-robin-williams-elevator-fart-war542.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=300 300w, https://pagesix.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/08/whoopi-goldberg-billy-crystal-robin-williams-elevator-fart-war542.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=640 640w, https://pagesix.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/08/whoopi-goldberg-billy-crystal-robin-williams-elevator-fart-war542.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=1280 1280w, https://pagesix.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/08/whoopi-goldberg-billy-crystal-robin-williams-elevator-fart-war542.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=1024 1024w, https://pagesix.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/08/whoopi-goldberg-billy-crystal-robin-williams-elevator-fart-war542.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=2000 2000w)
The EGOT winner previously admitted to the gassy inspiration behind her name in a 2017 “Graham Norton Show” interview.
“The theaters I worked in were so small, they didn’t have a lot of backstage room, so if you were gassy, you had to [fart] all the way through,” Goldberg said at the time. “People would say, ‘You are like a whoopee cushion.’ So that’s what I became.”
![whoopi goldberg](https://pagesix.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/08/whoopi-goldberg-billy-crystal-robin-williams-elevator-fart-war546.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=300 300w, https://pagesix.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/08/whoopi-goldberg-billy-crystal-robin-williams-elevator-fart-war546.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=640 640w, https://pagesix.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/08/whoopi-goldberg-billy-crystal-robin-williams-elevator-fart-war546.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=1280 1280w, https://pagesix.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/08/whoopi-goldberg-billy-crystal-robin-williams-elevator-fart-war546.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=1024 1024w, https://pagesix.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/08/whoopi-goldberg-billy-crystal-robin-williams-elevator-fart-war546.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=2000 2000w)
While the “Sister Act” star has yet to confirm the elevator story, she has been “pretty supportive” of Dean over the years — including her “Claim to Fame” stint.
“In the beginning, she didn’t understand sliding in the DMs and how people do stuff now,” Dean told the New York Post last month, adding that Goldberg’s approval “always matters” to her.
![whoopi goldberg and granddaughter Amarah Skye Dean](https://pagesix.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/08/whoopi-goldberg-billy-crystal-robin-williams-elevator-fart-war561.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=300 300w, https://pagesix.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/08/whoopi-goldberg-billy-crystal-robin-williams-elevator-fart-war561.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=640 640w, https://pagesix.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/08/whoopi-goldberg-billy-crystal-robin-williams-elevator-fart-war561.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=1280 1280w, https://pagesix.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/08/whoopi-goldberg-billy-crystal-robin-williams-elevator-fart-war561.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=1024 1024w, https://pagesix.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/08/whoopi-goldberg-billy-crystal-robin-williams-elevator-fart-war561.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=2000 2000w)
“She kind of thought it was a fake thing and told me to be careful.”
Goldberg, Williams and Crystal were longtime friends. When she celebrated her birthday in November 2020, Crystal visited “The View” set and gave her a throwback photo of the comedian pals.
![billy crystal, whoopi goldberg and robin williams](https://pagesix.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/08/whoopi-goldberg-billy-crystal-robin-williams-elevator-fart-war543.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=300 300w, https://pagesix.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/08/whoopi-goldberg-billy-crystal-robin-williams-elevator-fart-war543.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=640 640w, https://pagesix.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/08/whoopi-goldberg-billy-crystal-robin-williams-elevator-fart-war543.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=1280 1280w, https://pagesix.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/08/whoopi-goldberg-billy-crystal-robin-williams-elevator-fart-war543.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=1024 1024w, https://pagesix.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/08/whoopi-goldberg-billy-crystal-robin-williams-elevator-fart-war543.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=2000 2000w)
He told the Goldberg that he looked at the picture “every morning.”