Whoopi Goldberg has issued an apology after receiving backlash for her remarks about the Holocaust, after she seemingly doubled down in an interview with the The Sunday Times of London on comments she made earlier this year. In the Sunday Times interview, Goldberg dished on cancel culture and more before reiterating the controversial comments she made earlier this year on The View, when she declared the Holocaust was “not about race,” but about “white supremacy” and “man’s inhumanity to man.” As a result of those remarks, ABC News President Kin Godwin announced in a statement that Goldberg would be suspended from The View for two weeks.
In response to the Sunday Times interview, Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said in a statement that Goldberg’s comments “are deeply offensive and incredibly disappointing, especially given that this is not the first time she had made remarks like this. In a moment when antisemitic incidents have surged across the U.S., she should realize that making such ignorant statements can have real consequences.” Greenblatt also issued a statement following Goldberg’s initial comments about the Holocaust: “[Whoopi’s remarks] are deeply offensive and incredibly disappointing, especially given that this is not the first time she had made remarks like this. In a moment when antisemitic incidents have surged across the U.S., she should realize that making such ignorant statements can have real consequences.”
Goldberg has since apologized in a statement to Variety: “Recently while doing press in London, I was asked about my comments from earlier this year. I tried to convey to the reporter what I had said and why, and attempted to recount that time. It was never my intention to appear as if I was doubling down on hurtful comments, especially after talking with and hearing people like rabbis and old and new friends weighing in. I’m still learning a lot and believe me, I heard everything everyone said to me. I believe that the Holocaust was about race, and I am still as sorry now as I was then that I upset, hurt and angered people. My sincere apologies again, especially to everyone who thought this was a fresh rehash of the subject. I promise it was not. In this time of rising antisemitism, I want to be very clear when I say that I always stood with the Jewish people and always will. My support for them has not wavered and never will.”
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