PATERSON — A cannabis company founded by actor and author Whoopi Goldberg is engaged in a legal battle with convicted ex-mayor Joey Torres over their stalled efforts to open a recreational marijuana store in Paterson.

The plan was for Goldberg’s WhoopFam corporation to operate the marijuana business from a building on 1st Avenue in Paterson, which it had leased in September of 2023 from Torres’ House of HOPE organization.

Torres had formed House of HOPE several years ago after completing his 13-month prison sentence in 2019. The organization was supposed to provide re-entry services for people released from incarceration. House of HOPE was looking to connect ex-offenders with jobs at the WhoopFam cannabis store.

Story continues below photo gallery

But WhoopFam — which had received

See Full Page