Whoopi Goldberg used Hollywood fixer Anthony Pellicano to 'catch and kill' explosive story revealing her health secret, audio reveals

He enrages her so much she won't even say his name, referring to him only as 'You Know Who' in regular rants on popular television show, The View.

Just last week Whoopi Goldberg, 68, reacted to Donald Trump's new interview with Time magazine by bashing the former President for everything from his admission that he'd allow states to monitor women's pregnancies to his claim that he'd 'absolutely consider pardoning January 6 rioters.'

But, the truth is, Goldberg has more in common with Trump, 77, than she'd care to admit.

Because, DailyMail.com can reveal, there's one dubious practice both have employed – using a 'fixer' to pay hush money to quash potentially scandalous stories.

In Trump's case, for which he is currently on trial in Manhattan's Criminal Court, this 'catch and kill' of a story he didn't want made public fell to disgraced lawyer Michael Cohen who paid stripper Stormy Daniels $130,000 to keep mum about her alleged one-night stand with the then presidential candidate.

In Goldberg's, it was notorious private investigator Anthony Pellicano, now 80, – a man once known as Hollywood's 'fixer of fixers' – who negotiated a generous 'kill fee' with two freelance reporters threatening to take sensitive medical information about the star to the tabloids.

DailyMail.com obtained exclusive audio revealing Whoopi Goldberg used a 'fixer' to pay hush money to quash a potentially scandalous story in the '90s 

The actress used notorious PI Anthony Pellicano to negotiate a 'kill fee' with two reporters to stop the publication of a story about a cancer scare 

Just last week Goldberg bashed Donald Trump - who is on trial for his own 'catch and kill' scheme - over his comments in a recent interview 

In audio tape obtained by Pellicano's fellow fixer, Paul Barresi, 75, and reviewed by DailyMail.com, the investigator is heard speaking with the freelancers one of whom tells him, 'The Globe ran a story a week ago about her having breast reduction surgery, or something…Now the Star is working on something that she went to St John's Hospital to have a mammogram.'

Barresi told DailyMail.com, 'It's always easier to be critical than correct. Whoopi has been spewing hatred for President Trump for years.

'As a veteran and Trump supporter, who would following him into battle any day of the week, I decided to go public with the audio recording to show Whoopi had something very much in common with "You know who." She too had her own fixer.'

In the recording, the reporter tells Pellicano that the Star is digging into a story alleging Goldberg has had 'a cancer scare.'

DailyMail.com reviewed audio tape obtained by Pellicano's fellow fixer, Paul Barresi, 75 

At the time it was well known that Pellicano, whose clients also included Chris Rock, Michael Jackson, Tom Cruise and Hollywood Kingpins, was a close friend of Goldberg who not only acted as her 'fixer' but her sometime bodyguard.

In the recording of the telephone conversation which took place in 1994, the reporters ask for $5,000 to hand over the name of the hospital informant for which Pellicano has asked.

Pellicano responds, 'Now Whoopi is a very close friend of mine. This really pisses me off. So, I'm willing to take money out of my pocket…not her pocket…to give to you. Now you want to give me a more reasonable number. The answer is yes.'

It is a curious echo of Trump lawyer Michael Cohen's 2019 testimony to Congress in which he described the mechanism by which adult-actress Stormy was paid back in 2016.

According to Cohen the money came out of his pocket – not Trump's campaign funds - and was then reimbursed the following year in payments that were disguised as legal fees.

As the reporters' conversation with Pellicano continues they become more brazen in their requests, suggesting that Goldberg could scotch the story herself by giving them an interview which they could sell for $10,000.

Pellicano dismisses the attempt to force Goldberg's hand telling them, 'Yeah, except for one thing…She hates the f***ing Enquirer and the Star.

'She hates all tabloids. She's not going to do that.'

He continues, 'I got to figure out what to do, I can't tell her [about this story] on the telephone.'

At this point one of the reporter volunteers, 'I can kill the story. I can probably kill the story.'

To which Pellicano replies, 'Well, if you can kill the story, I can probably get some more money from her.

'I'm not going to talk to her about this over the telephone. I've got to see her in person on this. And she's gonna f***ing freak out. This is what I want with this source. I want his name. I want his social security number and I want his telephone number.'

In the recording of the telephone conversation which took place in 1994, Pellicano says, 'Now Whoopi is a very close friend of mine. This really pisses me off. So, I'm willing to take money out of my pocket…not her pocket…to give to you. Now you want to give me a more reasonable number. The answer is yes'

Pellicano was released in 2019 following a 15-year prison sentence after being convicted of 78 counts of wiretapping, intimidation and racketeering. He's seen in court in 2009

His clients included the likes of Michael Jackson and Tom Cruise. Pellicano became prolific in obtaining and protecting the darkest secrets of Hollywood stars, with the help of a sprawling network of wire-tappings

At the time of the conversation Pellicano was at the top of his decidedly murky game. But in 2002 everything changed with a federal investigation into the private detective who boasted of having powerful mob affiliations.

The FBI raided his Los Angeles offices and discovered a trove of incriminating evidence including firearms and two hand grenades, military grade plastic C-4 explosives, a detonator, jewelry, gold coins and bullion and $200,000 in cash.

In subsequent searches agents carted off 36 pieces of electronic equipment, including wiretapping software, computer hard drives and storage files, 150,000 pages of documents, encrypted transcripts of phone conversations and more than 1,300 tape recordings.

Pellicano was ultimately sentenced to 27 to 32 months in prison and on the day of his scheduled release in February 2006, the man whom Goldberg once counted as a friend, was slapped with a multi-count federal wiretapping indictment.

Among his victims were the biggest stars of the day - Sylvester Stallone, Oscar winner Keith Carradine, Garry Shandling, Kevin Nealon and Donna Dubrow, ex-wife of Die-Hard director John McTiernan.

McTiernan was later convicted as part of the prosecution of Pellicano and sentenced to 10 months in federal prison.

Pellicano, whose former protégé Barresi was interrogated by the FBI in 2004 about the practices that earned his one-time mentor the moniker the Big Sleazy, was sentenced to 15 years.