Whoopi Goldberg Canceled By Studio After Controversial Holocaust Claims
If you aren’t quite caught up on the drama surrounding Whoopi Goldberg, here’s what has unfolded so far.
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Actress and talk show host, Whoopi Goldberg, has received a two week suspension from ABC’s, The View. On Tuesday evening, Kim Godwin, the President of ABC News, issued the announcement via Twitter stating the suspension would be “effective immediately.” In her tweet, the ABC President said the decision is following the “wrong and hurtful comments” which the actress made on the network’s daytime talk show. Godwin acknowledges that Goldberg has since apologized to the world and those immediately affected by her words, however she believes the comedian should use her time away to “reflect and learn.” Rounding out the tweet, Godwin stated that ABC News has and will continue to show up in “solidarity with our Jewish colleagues, friends, family, and communities.”
You can see the full statement from ABC addressing Whoopi Goldberg’s suspension below.
If you aren’t quite caught up on the drama surrounding Whoopi Goldberg, here’s what has unfolded so far. On Monday’s episode of The View, Goldberg and her co-hosts, Joy Behar, Sunny Hostin, and Sara Haines sat down to discuss the banning of the book, Maus at a Tennessee school. Created and written by cartoonist, Art Spiegelman, the book was based around Spiegelman’s father’s experiences while fighting to stay alive during the Holocaust. The school board at the Tennessee learning institution cited its reason for banning the book due to its “rough, objectionable language” and a drawing of a naked woman.
As the ladies on the talk show began to weigh in with their opinions surrounding the ban, Whoopi Goldberg took center stage. Goldberg stood firmly in her position and stated that she didn’t believe the events of the Holocaust took place because of race, but instead happened because of “man’s inhumanity to man.” To further explain her beliefs, Goldberg went on to say that because the two groups involved in the Holocaust were both white, it could not have been about race.
Almost immediately, the backlash began. Everyone from celebrities to the Anti-Defamation League, and the U.S. Holocaust Museum stepped forward to condemn Whoopi Goldberg’s comments. CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, Jonathan Greenblatt, reminded Goldberg and others that the crimes committed by the Nazis during the Holocaust were driven from the purpose of causing a genocide of all Jewish people, of whom the Nazi regime “deemed to be an inferior race.” Through their “racist propaganda,” they were able to turn an entire country against the Jewish people and strip them of their humanity, ultimately murdering 6 million Jews. Greenblatt went on to say that “Holocaust distortion is dangerous.”
Will & Grace actress, Debra Messing, also took to Twitter to share her disappointment in the on air comments made by Whoopi Goldberg.
Following the extensive criticism of Whoopi Goldberg’s comments, she moved forward on her social media platforms as well as on The View to issue apologies to those hurt and offended by her statements. During her on air apology, Goldberg said that she “misspoke” and addressed her prior stance on the issue. Backpedaling on those initial statements, the actress said the Holocaust was “indeed about race, because Hitler and the Nazis considered the Jews to be an inferior race.” She also recognized that what people say matters and that she is “no exception.”
Coming from a place of humbleness, Whoopi Goldberg said that not only has she been “corrected,” but also reiterated that she stands alongside the Jewish people, something the actress says she has always done. All in all, the apology is the first step forward in bridging the gap between Whoopi Goldberg and the friends and fans she has hurt. While some think the suspension is over the top and that Goldberg should be let off the hook after her apology, others agree that the time away may help the co-host rethink her outlook on the Holocaust. With the initial frenzy now calming down, we will see what happens when Goldberg returns to her seat on the talk show.
