Whoopi Goldberg has been suspended from The View for two weeks over the “wrong and hurtful” comments she made about the Holocaust.
ABC president Kim Godwin told E! News in a statement: “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.”
Whoopi, who co-hosts American chat show, made the comments during a discussion about a US school board’s decision to ban Maus, a graphic novel about the experiences of a Holocaust survivor.
The actress said: “Let’s be truthful – the Holocaust isn’t about race. It’s about man’s inhumanity to man – that’s what it’s about.”
When one of her co-hosts said the Holocaust was “about white supremacy”, Whoopi replied: “But these are two white groups of people. You’re missing the point.”
“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’s a problem. It doesn’t matter if you’re black or white, because black, white, Jews… everybody eats each other.”
Sparks fly as The View panel confronts Whoopi after she says "the Holocaust isn't about race. No. It's not about race."
"Well, the considered Jews a different race," Joy Behar says."But it's about white supremacy. It's about going after Jews and Gypsies," Ana Navarro adds. pic.twitter.com/GZwZSi2qXi
— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) January 31, 2022
Whoopi’s words sparked serious backlash online, as many condemned her “dangerous” comments about the Holocaust.
Jonathan Greenblatt, chief executive of the Anti-Defamation League, said: “The Holocaust was about the Nazis’ systemic annihilation of the Jewish people – who they deemed to be an inferior race.”
“They dehumanised them and used their racist propaganda to justify slaughtering six million Jews. Holocaust distortion is dangerous.”
.@WhoopiGoldberg You deeply hurt &offended me. By minimizing the horror of the Holocaust, the systematic annihilating of 6 MILLION Jews-which by the way IS a race-an attempted GENOCIDE to white on white crime? You “All Lives Matter,” -ed us. Devastating & dangerous.
— Debra Messing✍🏻 (@DebraMessing) February 1, 2022
Whoopi, 66, responded to the backlash by releasing an apology on social media.
In a statement posted on Twitter, she said: “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 (ADL) shared, ‘The Holocaust was about the Nazi’s [sic] systematic annihilation of the Jewish people – who they deemed to be an inferior race’. I stand corrected.”
“The Jewish people around the world have always had my support and that will never waiver [sic]. I am sorry for the hurt I have caused. Written with my sincerest apologies. Whoopi Goldberg,” she added.
— Whoopi Goldberg (@WhoopiGoldberg) February 1, 2022
