Whoopi Goldberg Suspended From ABC's 'The View' After Holocaust Race Remarks
Whoopi Goldberg has been suspended from ABC's "The View" for two weeks after she was criticized for saying that the Holocaust was "not about race."
ABC News president Kim Godwin announced Goldberg's suspension on Tuesday night. In an internal memo to employees obtained by Oliver Darcy, a senior media reporter for CNN, Godwin said that such decisions "are never easy, but necessary."
Godwin noted that the culture in ABC News workplace "is one that is driven, kind, inclusive, respectful, and transparent," and Whoopi's comments do not align with the company's values.
The ABC News president said the host's comments were "wrong and hurtful, adding that "words matter, and we must be cognizant of the impact our words have."
Whoopi Goldberg Receives Backlash After 'The Holocaust Isn't About Race' Comment
Whoopi Goldberg's suspension came a day after she asserted during Monday's episode of the talk show that the Holocaust was not about race because it was about "man's inhumanity to man," and that it involved "two White groups of people."
Goldberg also said that the underlying issue was how people treat each other.
"It's how people treat each other. It's a problem. It doesn't matter if you're Black, or White, cause Black, White, Jews, Italians, everybody eats each other," Goldberg noted.
According to the U.S. Holocaust Museum, Adolf Hitler addressed this very issue in 1919 as he referred to the Jews "as a race and not a religious community." He defined their presence as a "race-tuberculosis of the people."
Shortly after Goldberg's statements, among those who slammed her was the non-profit organization Stop Antisemitism, which tweeted that six million of them were gassed, starved, and massacred because they were deemed an inferior race by the Nazis.
The U.S. Holocaust Museum also tweeted that racism was central to Nazi ideology. It noted that Jews were not defined by religion but by race, adding that Nazi racist beliefs fueled genocide and mass murder.
Goldberg's views were also slammed by the Anti-Defamation League's CEO, Jonathan Greenblatt, saying that the Holocaust was about the Nazi's systematic annihilation of the Jewish people, who are deemed to be an inferior race.
Later on Monday, Whoopi Goldberg posted a statement on Twitter expressing her "sincerest apologies."
She wrote: "On today's show, I said the Holocaust 'is not about race, but about man's inhumanity to man.' I should have said it is about both. I stand corrected. The Jewish people around the world have always had my support, and that will never waiver. I'm sorry for the hurt I have caused."
At the opening of Tuesday's show, Goldberg also said, "I misspoke." She said she knew her words upset "so many people," which was never her intention.
ABC News President on Whoopi Goldberg's Apology
While Whoopi Goldberg has apologized, Kim Godwin said she asked the TV host to "take time to reflect and learn about the impact of her comments."
Godwin noted that the entire ABC News organization stands in solidarity with its Jewish colleagues, friends, family, and communities.
However, not everyone felt that Goldberg's suspension was warranted. An ABC News source told CNN that Goldberg's comments did not come from a place of malice.
The source noted that Goldberg apologized and appeared to learn from her mistake, which is important when deciding whether or not to accept her apology. According to Lachlan Cartwright and Justin Baragona of The Daily Beast, Goldberg's co-hosts were furious by the decision.
Ana Navarro, a CNN political commentator who regularly guest hosts on "The View," said the TV host's colleagues "know what's in her heart," and that she was "not an anti-Semite." Navarro noted that sometimes things come out the wrong way, and as humans, we make mistakes.
ProPublica's Jesse Eisinger feels the same way, saying that people need to stop punishing those who say something ill-informed, "stupid or mistaken," especially when they have already apologized.
This article is owned by Latin Post.
Written by: Jess Smith
WATCH: Whoopie Goldberg Suspended From 'The View': Breaking News - From Fox News
Subscribe to Latin Post!
Sign up for our free newsletter for the Latest coverage!