Whoopi Goldberg has been suspended from ABC following her controversial comments about the Holocaust in which she said the extermination of six million Jews was not about race.
“Effective immediately, I am suspending Whoopi Goldberg for two weeks for her wrong and hurtful comments,” ABC News president Kim Godwin said in a statement.
“While Whoopi has apologized, I’ve asked her to take time to reflect and learn about the impact of her comments,” Godwin added. “The entire ABC News organization stands in solidarity with our Jewish colleagues, friends, family and communities.”
— ABC News PR (@ABCNewsPR) February 2, 2022
Several sources told Page Six that ABC insiders are neither pleased with Whoopi Goldberg’s Holocaust comments nor her apology after the initial backlash and believe she should be disciplined.
“ABC staffers and Disney Network execs are saying Whoopi went way too far. And board members are not happy with her apology and want a fuller retraction. The word is that Whoopi is in ‘deep shit,’” one ABC source told the outlet.
“Why does Whoopi seemingly get a pass when others don’t? Perhaps this time she won’t. Many at the network — including her fellow hosts — believe Whoopi is too controversial now for the show,” the source added.
While Whoopi might hope the situation will blow over soon, the ABC insider said that will likely not happen.
“This will cast a shadow over everything for a while. Even Joy Behar was heard saying backstage that Whoopi is ‘dead wrong’ and may not ever recover from this,” the source said. “Joy found this particularly troubling and couldn’t believe Whoopi wouldn’t stand corrected until she was forced.”
“Her agents are panicking that she may have ruined herself for good,” the source continued. “Plus, now she has to worry about potential death threats.”
A separate TV insider said that Whoopi may benefit from the fact that people are tired of “cancel culture.”
“Whoopi may benefit from the fact that people are tired of cancel culture. But it is still astonishing that it’s one rule for Whoopi and another for everyone else,” the insider said.
During Monday’s show of The View, Goldberg said the Holocaust was not specifically about race but about man’s inhumanity to others.
“The minute you turn it into race, it goes down this alley. Let’s talk about it for what it is. It’s how people treat each other. It’s a problem. It doesn’t matter if you’re black or white, because black, white, Jews … everybody eats each other,” she said.
After significant backlash, Goldberg apologized in a statement released on Twitter.
On today’s show, I said the Holocaust “is not about race, but about man’s inhumanity to man.“ I should’ve said it is about both. As Jonathan Greenblatt from the Anti-Defamation League shared, “ The Holocaust was about the Nazis systematic annihilation of the Jewish people – Who they deemed to be an inferior race.“ I stand corrected.
The Jewish people around the world have always had my support and that will never waver. I’m sorry for the hurt I have caused.
— Whoopi Goldberg (@WhoopiGoldberg) February 1, 2022
Monday night, Goldberg elaborated on her comments with comedian Stephen Colbert and appeared to double-down on her stance by arguing that Jews do not experience racial discrimination in the same way as black people due to skin color.
Neither ABC nor its parent-company Disney has issued a response to Goldberg’s comments.
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