ABC News suspends 'The View' host Whoopi Goldberg for Holocaust remarks
The actress has been suspended from the show effective immediately despite her written apology
The View host, Whoopi Goldberg, has been suspended from the show for two weeks, hours after she issued an apology for having falsely declared on-air that the Holocaust was “not about race.”
In a statement, ABC News President Kim Godwin announced: “Effective immediately, I am suspending Goldberg for two weeks for her wrong and hurtful comments. 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 made the outrageous comments as part of a panel discussion about the Holocaust graphic novel “Maus” that was recently banned by a Tennessee school board. She explained to her co-hosts that the Holocaust was about "man's inhumanity to man" and not related to race.
When co-host Ana Navarro pushed back, saying that the genocide was "about white supremacy ... and going after Jews and gypsies and Roma," Goldberg responded that it was "two white groups of people."
Goldberg later went on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” in an attempt to explain her controversial comments. However, her performance drew more backlash and only exacerbated the controversy.
“Most of the Nazis were white people and most of the people they were attacking were white people,” Goldberg told Colbert. “So, to me, I’m thinking, ‘How can you say it’s about race if you are fighting each other?’ This wasn’t – I said – this wasn’t racial. This was about white on white.”
Then on Monday night, Goldberg issued a written apology in a tweet.
“On today’s show, I said the Holocaust ‘is not about race, but about man’s inhumanity to man.’ I should have said it is about both. As Jonathan Greenblatt from the Anti-Defamation League shared, ‘The Holocaust was about the Nazi’s systematic annihilation of the Jewish people — who they deemed to be an inferior race.’ I stand corrected,” Goldberg said.
“The Jewish people around the world have always had my support and that will never waiver. I’m sorry for the hurt I have caused. Written with my sincerest apologies, Whoopi Goldberg,” she said.
Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center in Jerusalem, extended an open invitation to Whoopi Goldberg to come visit the museum and learn about the causes and aftermath of the Holocaust.
The museum’s chairman Dani Dayan, said that Goldberg’s words demonstrated an “unfortunate indication of a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of the Holocaust and anti-Semitism.”
“Nazi Germany, Hitler, persecuted and annihilated the Jews because they saw us as an inferior dangerous race. Whether we are a race or not is irrelevant. They saw us as a race. That was a racist persecution,” Dayan told Reuters in an interview.
Goldberg’s comments caused shockwaves in Israel with the country’s leading channels and news outlets covering the scandal.
Various reactions to Goldberg’s suspension poured in on social media. While some people supported the network’s decision, others referred to it as “dumb” or called for Goldberg to be held accountable by her own left-wing standards and be fired from the show.
Did anyone call for Whoopi to get fired or suspended? This is so dumb.
— Karol Markowicz (@karol) February 2, 2022
Whoopi definitely wasn't "suspended." She sat down with producers and they agreed that Rubber Rooming her for a couple of weeks will take the heat off and also give the impression that they took it seriously and "did something." This isn't cancel culture. You're being played.
— Noam Blum (@neontaster) February 2, 2022
In a sane world, Whoopi wouldn't be suspended. But the Left's standard is that if you say a Bad Thing™ then you lose your job. So they should fire her. Mutually assured destruction until you stop with all of this nonsense. https://t.co/TBD473vrox
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) February 2, 2022
Consequences only go one way folks. You should know this by now.
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) February 1, 2022
ABC staffers fury that network has not fired Whoopi Goldberg over Holocaust race claims. https://t.co/e26WEspuRA
Tal Heinrich is a senior correspondent for both ALL ISRAEL NEWS and ALL ARAB NEWS. She is currently based in New York City. Tal also provides reports and analysis for Israeli Hebrew media Channel 14 News.
