Whoopi Goldberg: Suspended after Holocaust statement

The US broadcaster ABC News has suspended moderator Whoopi Goldberg (66) for two weeks. There had previously been massive criticism of the 66-year-old. In an episode of The View, she said the Holocaust was “not about race.”

“Effective immediately, I am suspending Whoopi Goldberg for two weeks for her inaccurate and hurtful comments,” ABC News President Kim Godwin said. “Although Whoopi has apologized, I asked her to take the time to reflect and learn more about the implications of her comments,” Godwin said. “Everyone at ABC News stands “in solidarity with our Jewish colleagues, friends, families and communities”.

Sorry via Twitter and on TV

Goldberg apologized for what she said after the show. She tweeted, “I said on today’s show that the Holocaust is ‘not about race, it’s about man’s inhumanity to man’. I should have said it’s about both.”

She also wrote: “As Jonathan Greenblatt of the Anti-Defamation League shared, the Holocaust was about the Nazis’ systematic extermination of the Jewish people, who considered them an inferior race. I correct myself.” Whoopi Goldberg concluded her post by saying, “The Jewish people around the world have always had my support and that will never change. I apologize for the pain I’ve caused.” She signed the note, “Written with my sincere apologies, Whoopi Goldberg.”

The actress also apologized on the show “The View”: “Yesterday on our show, I expressed myself wrongly. I tweeted about it last night, but I want you to hear it directly from me,” she said. It was never her intention to upset so many people. “I now understand why and for that I am deeply grateful. The information I received was really helpful and helped me understand a number of different things.”