Whoopi Goldberg, the comedian and actress who also co-hosts the ABC talk show “The View,” has been suspended for two weeks, the network announced Tuesday night.
This comes after she repeatedly stated during a Monday episode of the show that the Holocaust was not about race, comments that come at a time when antisemitism is on the rise around the world. She later expressed regret.
Ms. Goldberg said that the Holocaust was about “man’s inhumanity to man,” not race. When one of her co-hosts questioned if white supremacy was to blame for the Holocaust, Ms. Goldberg responded, “But these are two white groups of people.”
She would be suspended for “her wrong and hurtful comments,” according to Kim Godwin, president of ABC News, in a statement released Tuesday night.
“While Whoopi has apologized, I’ve asked her to take time to reflect and learn about the impact of her comments,” she said. “The entire ABC News organization stands in solidarity with our Jewish colleagues, friends, family and communities.”
Ms. Goldberg apologized on Stephen Colbert’s “The Late Show” on Monday, noting that, as a Black person, she views racism as being based on skin color, but that she recognizes that this is not the case for everyone. “I get it. “Folks are angry,” she stated. “I accept that, and I did it to myself.”
She apologized once more on Tuesday’s episode of “The View.” She expressed regret for her comments, admitting that she was misinformed and that she had misspoke.
“I said something that I feel a responsibility for not leaving unexamined because my words upset so many people, which was never my intention,” Ms. Goldberg said. “And I understand why now, and for that I am deeply, deeply grateful because the information I got was really helpful and helped me understand some different things.”
