Whoopi Goldberg has been suspended from the The View for her controversial remarks earlier this week on the Holocaust.
“Effective immediately, I am suspending Whoopi Goldberg for two weeks for her wrong and hurtful comments,” ABC news president Kim Godwin said in a note to press, as reported by The Hollywood Reporter. “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.”
“These decisions are never easy, but necessary,” the note continued. “Just last week I noted that the culture at ABC News is one that is driven, kind, inclusive, respectful, and transparent. Whoopi’s comments do not align with those values.”
Goldberg issued an apology on social media and during Tuesday's episode.
“Yesterday on the show I misspoke,” she said during the show’s open. “[The Holocaust] is indeed about race, because Hitler and the Nazis considered the Jews to be an inferior race. Now, words matter, and mine are no exception. I regret my comments and I stand corrected. I also stand with the Jewish people.”
— Whoopi Goldberg (@WhoopiGoldberg) February 1, 2022
As we reported, 'The View' hosts talked about a Tennessee school board banning the graphic novel Maus, which tells a story of a family impacted by the Holocaust.
All of the hosts felt that the graphic novel was important for kids to read and shouldn’t be banned. But Goldberg gave a differing opinion from her castmates who felt that the graphic novel could teach readers about racism in America.
“If you’re going to do this, let’s be truthful about it,” she said. “The Holocaust isn’t about race. It’s not about race.”
Joy Behar corrected Goldberg by saying that Nazi Germany considered Jewish people “a different race.” Goldberg said, “It’s about man’s inhumanity to man,” not race. Meanwhile, Ana Navarro said the Holocaust was based on “white supremacy” and listed the number of minorities who were considered less than by the Nazis.
Behar also added that the Nazis targeted Black people as well as Jewish people.
“But this is about two groups of white people,” said Goldberg. “You’re missing the point. The minute you turn it into race, it goes down this alley. Let’s talk about it for how it is: is’ts how people treat each other. It’s a problem. It doesn’t matter if you’re Black or white. Because Black, white Jews, Italians–everybody eats each other.”
As reported by Decider, fans of the show were irate about Goldberg’s position on the Holocaust, with one tweeting, “Please Whoopi. Saying the Holocaust was not about race is like saying slavery was not about race. Being Jewish & African was a key reason for deadly, brutal treatment.” Another tweeted that Goldberg should have said the Holocaust was simultaneously about man’s inhumanity to man and race, not one or the other. Another wrote, “I adore Whoopi, and I will continue to adore Whoopi, but she’s wrong on that one.”
Others actually agreed with Goldberg, with one writing that they viewed Goldberg's opinon as correct.
Watch a clip from the episode below:
Trey Mangum and Monique Jones contributed to this report.
