Renowned co-host of The View, Whoopi Goldberg, has been suspended for a two-week period due to what ABC News President Kim Godwin described as “wrong and hurtful comments” concerning Jews and the Holocaust.
Following Goldberg’s comment on The View stating that race was not a factor in the Holocaust, she issued apologies both later that day and during the morning episode on Tuesday. Nevertheless, her initial statement garnered condemnation from prominent Jewish leaders.
In a statement posted on Twitter, Godwin expressed solidarity with the Jewish community while emphasizing the need for Goldberg to take time for reflection and education on the impact of her comments.
Goldberg’s controversial remarks arose during a discussion on Monday’s show regarding the ban of “Maus,” a Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel portraying the Nazi death camps of World War II, by a Tennessee school board. She claimed that the Holocaust was “not about race” but rather “man’s inhumanity to other man.”
The suspension came a day after Goldberg’s comment during a discussion on The View that race was not a factor in the Holocaust. Goldberg apologized hours later and again on Tuesday’s morning episode, but the original remark drew condemnation from several prominent Jewish leaders.
“My words upset so many people, which was never my intention,” she said Tuesday morning. “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.”
Goldberg made her original comments during a discussion on the show Monday about a Tennessee school board’s banning of Maus, a Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel about the Nazi death camps during World War II. She said the Holocaust was “not about race … it’s about man’s inhumanity to other man.”
“I misspoke,” Goldberg said at the opening of Tuesday’s show.
The flare-up over Goldberg’s remarks this week highlighted the enduring complexity of some race-related issues, including the widespread but strongly contested notion that only people of color can be victims of racism.
That appeared to be at the root of original comments by Goldberg, who is Black. On Monday’s episode of The View, she said the Holocaust was “not about race … it’s about man’s inhumanity to other man.” Panelists on the show had been talking about a Tennessee school board’s banning of Maus, a Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel about the Nazi death camps during World War II.
“My words upset so many people, which was never my intention,” she said. “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.”
The View brought on Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League and author of It Could Happen Here, on Tuesday to discuss why her words had been hurtful.
“Jewish people at the moment are feeling besieged,” Greenblatt said.
Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, praised Goldberg for being outspoken over the years on social issues but said he struggled to understand her statement on the Holocaust.
