Whoopi Goldberg suspended from ‘The View’ after Holocaust comments

Jan. 31, 2022 episode of The View | Source: ABC

ABC News suspended Whoopi Goldberg after an episode of “The View” in which she said the Holocaust had nothing to do with racism. 

Key Players:

Whoopi Goldberg, a co-host of “The View,” is an American comedian, actor, author, and television personality known for “Sister Act,” “Ghost,” and “The Lion King.”

ABC News is the news division of Walt Disney Television’s ABC broadcast network and is headed by Kim Godwin.

Further Details:

On Jan. 31, 2022, during a taping of “The View,” Goldberg and fellow panelists discussed a Tennessee school board banning “Maus” by Art Spiegelman, a Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel about Nazi death camps.

According to The Associated Press, Goldberg was surprised the book was ostensibly banned for nudity, but in criticizing the school board, she said the Holocaust was not about race. 

“I mean, it’s about the Holocaust, the killing of 6 million people, but that didn’t bother you?” she said. “If you’re going to do this, then let’s be truthful about it. Because the Holocaust isn’t about race. No, it’s not about race.”

Goldberg’s comment fueled frustration online, resulting in a tweet from the U.S. Holocaust Museum. “Racism was central to Nazi ideology. Jews were not defined by religion, but by race. Nazi racist beliefs fueled genocide and mass murder,” the museum stated. 

Outcome:

Goldberg apologizes

Goldberg issued an apology, reemphasizing a point from Jonathan Greenblatt, the CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, that “The Holocaust was about the Nazis’ systematic annihilation of the Jewish people — who they deemed to be an inferior race. I stand corrected.”

Later that night, Goldberg went on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” to explain herself, saying her comment was not intended to be hateful. 

“As a Black person,” she said, “I think of race as being something I can see. So I see you, and I know what race you are. … I felt that it was really more about man’s inhumanity to man and how horrible people can be to people.”

On Feb. 1, 2022, she reiterated her apology on “The View,” saying she “misspoke” and that Greenblatt had been invited onto the show to discuss why Goldberg’s words were incorrect and hurtful. 

Goldberg suspended

But that same day, Godwin suspended Goldberg for two weeks, saying her remarks were “wrong and hurtful,” and asked Goldberg to “reflect and learn about the impact of her comments.”

Whoopi Goldberg returns to ‘The View’

On Feb. 14, 2022, Goldberg returned to the talk show with a new perspective, Deadline reported. She opened the show by telling viewers that the tough conversations would continue on the program, because “that’s what we’ve been hired to do.”

“And it’s not always pretty … and it is not always as other people would like to hear,” Goldberg said. “But it is an honor to sit at this table and be able to have these conversations, because they are important. They are important to us as a nation and to us more so as a human entity.”