Neil Patrick Harris appeared on American talk show The View and claimed when he was 15 or 16 host Whoopi Goldberg had promised to have sex with him in the future.
The actor appeared on the show on Wednesday (October 10) to promote his new book The Magic Misfits, but at one point in the interview Harris dropped in the story about the unusual encounter he’d once had with Goldberg.
The hosts were discussing Harris’ two young children, who he has with husband David Burtka, when Goldberg started laughing and said she could remember what Harris was like when he was younger.
Take a look at Harris’ appearance on The View here:
The pair had worked together in the 1988 movie Clara’s Heart, where Goldberg played a housekeeper named Clara who looked after Harris’ character David.
The former How I Met Your Mother star put Goldberg on the spot as he launched into his awkward story, explaining Clara’s Heart was his first ever movie and he was just 15 or 16 when he had acted in it.
He said:
She told me on my last day of shooting that in 10 years time she was going to have sex with me.
The audience started laughing, but it quickly turned into nervous laughter as the 45-year-old stared accusingly at the host.
A heartbeat of uncomfortable silence ensued, until Goldberg responded:
I might’ve!
However Harris didn’t seem phased by the old encounter and seemed amused, as he continued talking, joking that he wanted to know what was happening with the promise.
Telling her side of the story, 62-year-old Goldberg explained:
He had many questions as a kid, so I said, ‘Listen, wait 10 years and I’ll take you through it.’ In those days you could have some fun like that. You can’t do that now. People get very upset now.
Harris assured the host he hadn’t taken the encounter to heart and joked that he was looking forward to their promised engagement.
The actor said:
Hey, I was not offended, I’m looking forward to it.
The conversation swiftly moved on to talk about how Harris and his husband celebrated their fourth wedding anniversary, but some of the show’s viewers took to social media to comment on the awkward encounter.
One person wrote:
That was such an odd exchange until @WhoopiGoldberg clarified that he had tons of sex questions for a 15-yr-old; she said she’d fill him in when he was 25 it was still hella awkward…
Another commenter defended the conversation, writing:
She clarified, he had questions as a teen in puberty, he felt comfortable enough with her to direct his questions to her, her response, vague and jokingly, wait 10 years and I’ll take you through it. It seems harmless to me.
Some people raised issues about the inappropriateness of the encounter, but Harris didn’t seem affected by the early conversation with Goldberg and turned his tale into a joke.
Neither of the stars have commented on the story since.
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Emily Brown first began delivering important news stories aged just 13, when she launched her career with a paper round. She graduated with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University, and went on to become a freelance writer and blogger. Emily contributed to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems before becoming a journalist at UNILAD, where she works on breaking news as well as longer form features.