Whoopi Goldberg has been suspended from The View after declaring that the Holocaust was "not about race."
"Effective immediately, I am suspending Whoopi Goldberg for two weeks for her wrong and hurtful comments," ABC News president Kim Godwin said in a statement, according to CNN. "While Whoopi has apologized, I've asked her to take time to reflect and learn about the impact of her comments. The entire ABC News organization stands in solidarity with our Jewish colleagues, friends, family and communities."
Goldberg, who started serving her two-week suspension on Wednesday, apologized on the show a day earlier.
"I said the Holocaust wasn't about race and was instead about man's inhumanity to man," Goldberg said on Tuesday's show. "But it is indeed about race because Hitler and the Nazis considered Jews to be an inferior race."
The View host acknowledged the pain she inflicted with her words.
"Now, words matter and mine are no exception," she said. "I regret my comments, as I said, and I stand corrected. I also stand with the Jewish people as they know and y'all know, because I've always done that."
Goldberg also issued an apology on Twitter.
"On today's show, I said the Holocaust 'is not about race, but about man's inhumanity to man,'" the actress wrote. "I should have said it's about both."
— Whoopi Goldberg (@WhoopiGoldberg) February 1, 2022
In an internal memo to employees, obtained by CNN, Godwin said it's not easy to hand out punishments, but it's necessary.
"Words matter and we must be cognizant of the impact our words have," the ABC News president told staffers.
Goldberg made her controversial comments on Monday when the hosts were discussing banned books across the country, specifically focusing on popular novels such as To Kill a Mockingbird and Maus. As she criticized a Tennessee school district for banning Maus, a novel that highlights the atrocities of the Holocaust, Goldberg said, “Well, this is white people doing it to white people, so y’all gonna fight amongst yourselves.”
“If you’re going to do this, then let’s be truthful about it because the Holocaust isn’t about race,” the host later added as the group talked about being honest with children when it comes to teaching history.
When she was challenged by her colleagues, Goldberg said "it's about man's inhumanity to man."
“But it’s about white supremacists going after Jews,” co-host Ana Navarro said in response.
Still, Goldberg continued to defend her view.
“But these are two white groups of people," she said. "The minute you turn it into race, it goes down this alley. Let’s talk about it for what it is. It’s how people treat each other. It doesn’t matter if you’re Black or white, Jews, it’s each other.”
On Tuesday's show, Goldberg said she stands with the Jewish community as she “always has.” She also introduced Jonathan Greenblatt, president of the Anti-Defamation League, to continue the conversation.
Greenblatt, who appeared on Don Lemon Tonight following Goldberg's suspension, said he hopes the host will use the next two weeks "for a process of introspection and learning."
"We sometimes have people in public places who can say clumsy things about race or faith or gender. I don't believe in cancel culture. I like the phrase that my friend Nick Cannon uses: We need counsel culture," Greenblatt said. "We shouldn't cancel Whoopi because she made a mistake. I heard Whoopi say that she's committed to doing better. I accept that apology with the sincerity with which she delivered it."
