Whoopi Goldberg Faces Backlash
ABC News suspends actor Whoopi Goldberg after claiming the Holocaust was “not about race” on “The View.” Her suspension will last two weeks.
Apologies
Even though Whoopi Goldberg apologized, ABC News president Kim Godwin said her comments about the Holocaust were wrong. Godwin also said she hoped Goldberg would take this time to reflect.
Goldberg has been dealing with the backlash since Monday when she first said the comments on the daytime program. She later went on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” in an effort to rationalize her comments, but it ended up making the situation worse.
Goldberg apologized in a written statement. Shortly after publishing her written statement, she opened Tuesday’s show of “The View” with another apology.
“Now, words matter and mine are no exception,” she said on air. “I regret my comments, as I said, and I stand corrected. I also stand with the Jewish people as they know and y’all know, because I’ve always done that.”
Public Acceptance and Backlash
Some people have publicly accepted Whoopi Goldberg’s apology, such as Anti-Defamation League president Jonathan Greenblatt. After going on “The View” to talk about Holocaust education, he posted a tweet publicly accepting her apology.
Several members of the Jewish community and its allies are angered by her comments, and rightfully so. This is not the first time Goldberg has made insensitive comments or defended a bad public figure. Not only has Goldberg said insensitive comments about the Holocaust, but defended Bill Cosby when he was facing sexual assault allegations. Both of these situations she has apologized for and reversed her stance.
With cancel culture becoming more common, Goldberg needs to be more aware of what she say on her platform. Education should be the main function of a public platform. While Goldberg tried to make her mistake into an educational show, this does not make up for her insensitive comments.