February 2, 2022
Outrage at ‘The View’: Co-Host Whoopi Goldberg Suspended Over Controversial Holocaust Comments
Iconic The View co-host Whoopi Goldberg is under fire for controversial remarks made on Monday claiming that the Holocaust had nothing to do with race during a heated “Hot Topics” segment.
ABC News president Kimberly Godwin immediately took action following a barrage of backlash from the Jewish community and many others who called out The Color Purple star for her seemingly misinformed take on the horrific history of the genocide of European Jews during World War II between 1941 and 1945.
Whoopi has since apologized for saying the Holocaust was not about race after learning it was, in fact, about exterminating the entire Jewish race.
— Whoopi Goldberg (@WhoopiGoldberg) February 1, 2022
However, ABC took immediate action to suspend Whoopi for two weeks.
“Effective immediately, I am suspending Whoopi Goldberg for two weeks for her wrong and hurtful comments,” Godwin said on Tuesday evening in a note to staff.
“While Whoopi has apologized, I’ve asked her to take time to reflect and learn about the impact of her comments.”
She continued: “The entire ABC News organization stands in solidarity with our Jewish colleagues, friends, family, and communities.”
Godwin further added: “These decisions are never easy, but necessary.”
And she explained Whoopi’s comments “do not align” with the values or culture of ABC News.
Godwin further stated that it was important to put a pause on the situation to allow Whoopi to connect with Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt and have an “an educational conversation,” which she did on Tuesday’s show following the problematic comments on Monday.
Deeply appreciate @WhoopiGoldberg inviting me on to @TheView today to have an important discussion on the importance of educating about the Holocaust. Whoopi has been a long-time ally of the Jewish community and @ADL and her apology is very much welcome. https://t.co/0lCLSgM9vO
— Jonathan Greenblatt (@JGreenblattADL) February 1, 2022
“People are really upset and don’t understand why it took two days,” an ABC executive told The Daily Beast.
However, multiple sources report that The View co-hosts Sunny Hostin, Joy Behar, and Ana Navarro are incensed over the network’s decision to suspend Whoopi for two weeks.
“I love Whoopi Goldberg. I love The View,” Navarro said on Tuesday evening, according to reports.
“This was an incredibly unfortunate incident. Whoopi is a lifelong ally to the Jewish community. She is not an antisemite. Period. I am sad. And I have nothing else to say.”
The EGOT found herself drowning in hot water when she invoked misinformation during a roundtable discussion on Monday’s show.
The “Hot Topics” segment centered around the controversial, Pulitzer-winning graphic novel Maus, and the Tennessee school board’s decision to ban the book over profanity and nudity, which the co-hosts argued was taken out of context.
Whoopi chimed in, adding the Holocaust was not “about race” and held close to her beliefs when her co-hosts tried to redirect her with facts about Adolf Hitler’s goal to dominate through white supremacy by way of killing a whole human race.
“It’s about man’s inhumanity to man,” Whoopi declared, adding that the Holocaust was about “two white groups of people.”
Sadly, Whoopi majorly missed the mark on this one.