After four years of operation, Whoopi Goldberg and Om Edibles Founder Maya Elisabeth’s cannabis company, Whoopi & Maya, is closing and will no longer be offering services to patients in California and Colorado.
Goldberg and Elisabeth launched the female-focused company in early 2016, offering balm, tincture, bath soak, and sipping chocolate products for easing menstrual pain and cramps.
In a message posted to whoopiandmaya.com, the company regretfully announced that it would no longer continue operating.
“In 2016, we launched with an urgent mission: to offer safe natural relief for period pain through the miracle of medical cannabis,” reads the message. “We proved there’s a market for this medicine and it’s been our joy to offer this miraculous relief to our treasured customers. It has been our privilege to serve the community. Though we’ve all come a long way, there’s far more to be achieved. This is simply the end of a single chapter in a larger story, one that we invite you to continue.”
Company co-founder and board member Rick Cusick told CelebStoner that California’s difficult rollout of adult-use regulations in 2018 began to be problematic, causing frustration within the business.
The company’s launch in 2016 came before adult-use cannabis regulations under Prop 64 went into effect at the start of 2018.
“It became clear to everybody that Whoopi and Maya wanted a divorce,” Cusick told CNN. How do you do that? Because both of them were very integral to what we were doing.”
The board worked on proposals, trying to find a solution, but could not get both principals to agree.
Goldberg submitted her resignation to the board on Friday, January 31, after the rift that had developed between her and Elisabeth could not be resolved.
Goldberg told the New York Post that she is very proud of what has been accomplished with Whoopi & Maya and looks forward to moving ahead with other projects in the market.
“This was a truly special opportunity that I will be forever grateful for,” added Elisabeth. “We got to help a lot of women with our products and hopefully, someday we can make them accessible again. No regrets whatsoever, only gratitude and forward momentum. I wish everybody in the partnership only the best.”
According to CNN, a meeting between the Whoopi & Maya board and the company’s investors was to take place this week to figure out a future for the company’s products.
