Whoopi Goldberg has faced a wave of backlash following comments about the Holocaust, with some calling for her to be fired from The View over it.
It's the second time Goldberg has faced controversy over speaking about the Holocaust in 2022, with the first incident occurring after a Tennessee school decided to ban the graphic novel Maus.
Back then, she had been discussing the ban when she said 'the Holocaust isn't about race', describing the Nazi atrocity where millions of Jews were killed as 'man's inhumanity to man'.
Advert
Goldberg's words sparked a backlash from The View viewers and Jewish organisations, who explained that the Nazis targeted Jewish people for genocide because they saw them as an 'inferior race'.
She apologised for her comments, saying she should have said that the Holocaust was both about race and man's inhumanity to man.
Citing words from Jonathan Greenblatt of the Anti-Defamation League, Goldberg said she was 'sorry for the hurt I have caused' and that 'Jewish people around the world have always had my support'.
Advert
Greenblatt later thanked Goldberg for her apology, saying he hoped people could 'work together to combat ignorance of that horrific crime' amidst warnings that antisemitism was reaching 'historic levels'.
During a later appearance on The Late, Late Show With Stephen Colbert, she had said the Nazis had lied and had issues with ethnicity rather than race, for which she received further criticism and again apologised.
ABC responded by suspending her from The View for two weeks, with the actor asked to 'take time to reflect and learn'.
The latest wave of backlash has been prompted by an interview Goldberg did with The Times which was published on Christmas Eve.
Advert
In the interview, Goldberg said the Holocaust 'wasn't originally' about race.
She said: "My best friend said, 'Not for nothing is there no box on the census for the Jewish race. So that leads me to believe that we’re probably not a race'."
When the interviewer replied that 'Nazis saw Jews as a race', Goldberg responded: "Yes, but that’s the killer, isn’t it? The oppressor is telling you what you are. Why are you believing them? They’re Nazis. Why believe what they’re saying?"
Advert
"It wasn’t originally. Remember who they were killing first. They were not killing racial; they were killing physical."
"They were killing people they considered to be mentally defective. And then they made this decision."
When told the Nazis measured the heads and noses of Jewish people in an attempt to prove they were a different race, Goldberg said 'they did that to black people too' and continued 'it doesn't change the fact that you could not tell a Jew on the street'.
Advert
This has prompted a fresh wave of backlash, with the Auschwitz Museum tweeting out a passage from a letter written by Adolf Hitler in 1919, where the Nazi dictator wrote 'Jews are definitely a race'.
David Harris, chair of the American Jewish Committee, directly addressed Goldberg by referencing the same letter and said 'stop claiming the Holocaust wasn't about race'.
Holocaust survivor Lucy Lipiner said the actor was using the atrocity as 'her punching bag' and had been told before that her comments had been harmful.
Some called for Goldberg to be fired from The View, as one person said she'd 'not just once but now twice' made comments about the Holocaust.
Another said: 'Holocaust distortion is Holocaust denial' and said Goldberg 'must not just be suspended' as 'we've already been there' and declared that she 'must be fired, period'.
Goldberg's representatives provided us with a statement she made about the issue.
She said: "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."
UNILAD has contacted The View for further comment.
Topics: Whoopi Goldberg, Racism, Celebrity, US News
Joe Harker