Feb 2, 2022, 4:19 PM IST
Legendary TV host and actress Whoopi Goldberg has landed in a soup for her remarks that the Holocaust was 'not about race'. Goldberg was suspended from 'The View' for two weeks after facing fierce criticism over her comments following this shocker.
Golberg's suspension was announced on ABC News PR Twitter handle, posted along with a detailed statement. Attributed to ABC News President Kim Godwin, the statement stated that Whoopi Goldberg had been suspended for two weeks with immediate effect for her wrong and hurtful comments.
"While Whoopi has apologised, I've asked her to take time to reflect and learn about the impact of her comments. The entire ABC News organisation stands in solidarity with our Jewish colleagues, friends, family and communities," Godwin concluded.
According to reports, Goldberg's comments on 'The View' was taken up by the decision-makers at Disney, and Peter Rice, Chairman of Disney General Entertainment Content, was consulted on the public fallout before the suspension.
On Monday's broadcast of 'The View', Goldberg's remarks came during a discussion over the Tennessee school board's ban of "Maus," a nonfiction graphic novel about cartoonist Art Spiegelman's father's experience surviving the Holocaust.
"Let's be truthful about it because [the] Holocaust isn't about race. It's not about race. It's about man's inhumanity to man," Goldberg said during the show.
WATCH: has been suspended from ABC News' 'The View' for two weeks over her comments alleging race was not a factor in the Holocaust. pic.twitter.com/yrrkDDnFmN
— Asianet Newsable (@AsianetNewsEN)Her remarks immediately drew fierce criticism from Jewish organisations, including the Anti-Defamation League and the US Holocaust Museum. CEO of the ADL, Jonathan Greenblatt, stated that the Holocaust was about the Nazi's systemic annihilation of the Jewish people, who they deemed inferior.
"They dehumanised them and used their racist propaganda to justify slaughtering 6 million Jews. Holocaust distortion is dangerous," Greenblatt noted.
Following the outrage, Goldberg apologised for her remarks on social media. She also offered an on-air apology on Tuesday's episode of the 'The View', where Greenblatt was invited as a guest for the broadcast.
"So yesterday on our show, I misspoke," Goldberg said at the top of the show.
"I said that the Holocaust wasn't about race, and it was instead about man's inhumanity to man. But it is indeed about race because Hitler and the Nazis considered the Jews an inferior race. Now, words matter and mine are no exception. I regret my comments as I said and I stand corrected," Goldberg added.
"I also stand with the Jewish people, as they know, and as you all know because I've always done that," Goldberg concluded.