ABC News has suspended Whoopi Goldberg for two weeks from The View. The suspension came on Tuesday evening, only hours after Ms. Goldberg apologized for comments she made about the Holocaust.
Earlier this week, during Monday morning’s episode of The View, Goldberg first garnered backlash for comments she made insisting that the Holocaust was “not about race,” but rather about “man’s inhumanity to man.”
Later on Monday, Goldberg appeared on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert and attempted to explain the reasoning behind her comments, but her comments on Colbert’s show only made matters worse. On Monday evening, as the backlash and controversy continued to fester, Goldberg issued an apology, saying she had been wrong to make those comments.
“I’m sorry for the hurt I have caused,” Goldberg said in a written statement of apology.
Tuesday morning’s episode of The View included yet another apology from the newly-embattled television personality, who said the following on-air:
“I said something that I feel a responsibility for not leaving unexamined because my words upset so many people, which was never my intention. I understand why now, and for that, I am deeply, deeply grateful because the information I got was really helpful, and it helped me understand some different things. I said the Holocaust wasn’t about race and was instead about man’s inhumanity to man,” Goldberg explained during Tuesday’s episode. “But it is indeed about race because Hitler and the Nazis considered Jews to be an inferior race. Now words matter and mine are no exception. I regret my comments, as I said, and I stand corrected. I also stand with the Jewish people as they know and y’all know, because I’ve always done that.”After her on-air apology, Goldberg conducted an interview with Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, who attempted to explain why Goldberg’s comments were hurtful. Later on Tuesday, Greenblatt said he accepted Goldberg’s apology via Twitter, saying he appreciated the chance to discuss the importance of educating people about the Holocaust.
But Goldberg’s apologies didn’t spare her from disciplinary measures from ABC News. In a statement, Kim Godwin, ABC News President, described Ms. Goldberg’s comments about the Holocaust as “wrong and hurtful.”
“While Whoopi has apologized, I’ve asked her to take time to reflect and learn about the impact of her comments,” Godwin said. “The entire ABC News organization stands in solidarity with our Jewish colleagues, friends, family, and communities.”Godwin also sent her staff an internal email about Ms. Goldberg’s suspension, saying that “words matter, and we must be cognizant of the impact our words have,” as she explained the decision to take disciplinary measures against the actress and comedian. She further described the difficulty in making such a decision, saying it’s “never easy.”
During the Second World War, six million European Jews lost their lives at the hands of Germany’s Nazi Party, led by Adolf Hitler. At the time, the deaths accounted for nearly 1/3 of the world’s Jewish population. Nazis also murdered five million non-Jews as well, believing those they murdered were inferior, thus rationalizing their heinous acts of torture and genocide. In all, 11 million people lost their lives at the hands of the Nazi regime.
