Whoopi Goldberg broke news of Robert Redford‘s death to The View audience in real time, with studio audience members audibly gasping as the Oscar-winning actress informed that the 89-year-old Hollywood icon died earlier Tuesday at his home in Utah.

Shortly after celebrating the studio audience’s warm reception to the cohosts, Goldberg spoke about the somber development as the audience listened.

“I feel so close to you like we’ve been together before, I don’t know why,” Goldberg said at the top of the show (watch in the video above), with panelist Joy Behar quipping that she knew the crowd in “another life” before the show.Whoopi Goldberg informs ‘The View’ audience of Robert Redford’s death.

ABC; Stephane Cardinale – Corbis/Corbis via Getty

“It was another life, and you know, speaking of another life, right before we went on air, we learned about the passing of one of Hollywood’s most iconic leading men,” the 69-year-old said, looking into the camera.

As she called Redford a “tireless activist, environmentalist, and philanthropist,” the show flashed an image of Redford on screen, leading to audible screams from the audience as they learned of Redford’s death.

Goldberg briefly paused to affirm the news, saying “yes” after the loud reaction from the crowd.

Entertainment Weekly has learned that audience members were engaged in watching a pre-taped segment with cell phones put away, and therefore weren’t able to read news of Redford’s passing until Goldberg told them when the show went on the air.

As the show continued, Behar said that Redford “was one of the most attractive, handsome guys” in Hollywood, citing his classic film The Way We Were as one of her favorites in his filmography.

“Barbra [Streisand] pulls his hair away from him, she just did it, one of the most romantic moments in movies,” Behar recalled.

Later, cohost Sunny Hostin praised his work as an activist — particularly, she said she was “struck by his work on climate change and his work in that space” fighting for a healthier environment.

“He knew that it would be a problem before I think many people paid attention to it,” Hostin observed. “That says something about caring for the world he’d leave behind.”‘The View’ cohosts discuss Robert Redford’s death.

Other Hollywood figures who knew and worked with Redford also paid tribute to him after his death, with Jane Fonda — Redford’s five-time costar in films like Our Souls at Night and Barefoot in the Park — telling EW in a statement that she was extremely emotional over the news.

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“It hit me hard this morning when I read that Bob was gone. I can’t stop crying,” she said in a statement through a representative.

The View airs weekdays at 11 a.m. ET/10 a.m. PT on ABC. Watch Goldberg break the news to the show’s audience in the video at the top of this post.