People Are So Mad About Whoopi Goldberg’s ‘The View’ Comments—And She’s Now Off The Show!

Whoopi Goldberg, 66, has been officially suspended for two weeks from her co-host position on The View after making shocking (and as many viewers on Twitter deemed, “harrowing” and “tone-deaf”) comments about the Holocaust. We’ve gathered a timeline of everything that has transpired since her comments and suspension, as news continues to emerge.

Firstly, Goldberg said on a January 31st episode of the show that the genocide of European Jews during World War II “wasn’t about race,” but rather “man’s inhumanity to man.” She later apologized that evening on Twitter, doubled down on her comments in an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and then apologized again on The View the following morning.

The network announced Goldberg’s suspension today, on February 2nd, with ABC News president Kim Godwin writing in a statement, “Effective immediately, I am suspending Whoopi Goldberg for two weeks for her wrong and hurtful comments.” Godwin continued, “While Whoopi has apologized, I’ve asked her to take time to reflect and learn about the impact of her comments. The entire ABC News organization stands in solidarity with our Jewish colleagues, friends, family and communities.”

As of today, an insider reportedly told the New York Post that Goldberg is “livid” after her suspension and is telling co-workers she is going to “quit the show.” The source added that she feels “humiliated” at being disciplined by ABC executives after she “followed their advice” to apologize for the ill-conceived comments, as said to the publication.

Goldberg’s first apology was in a tweet posted the night of the January 31st episode. “On today’s show, I said the Holocaust ‘is not about race, but about man’s inhumanity to man.’ I should have said it is about both,” wrote Goldberg. She then quoted Jonathan Greenblatt, the National Director and CEO of the Anti-Defamation League (who she later interviewed on The View to discuss worldwide anti-Semitism that Jewish people still face to this day).

Goldberg wrote, “As Jonathan Greenblatt from the Anti-Defamation League shared, ‘The Holocaust was about the Nazi’s systematic annihilation of the Jewish people – who they deemed to be an inferior race.’ I stand corrected.” She added, “The Jewish people around the world have always had my support and that will never waiver. I’m sorry for the hurt I have caused. Written with my sincerest apologies, Whoopi Goldberg.”

On-air the following day, Goldberg addressed the situation again, speaking directly to The View audience and viewers at home. “Yesterday on our show, I misspoke. I tweeted about it last night but I want you to hear it from me directly,” the comedian and actor said. “I said something that I feel a responsibility for not leaving unexamined, because my words upset so many people, which was never my intention. I understand why now, and for that I am deeply, deeply grateful because the information I got was really helpful, and it helped me understand some different things.”

She then reiterated that the Holocaust was indeed “about race,” and acknowledged that she wasn’t recognizing the true definition of “race” in her January 31st comments. “I said the Holocaust wasn’t about race and was instead about man’s inhumanity to man,” Goldberg said Tuesday on “The View.” “But it is indeed about race because Hitler and the Nazis considered Jews to be an inferior race.” She continued, “Now, words matter and mine are no exception. 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.”

In the interview with Greenblatt, the featured guest informed Goldberg and viewers about the devastating realities of the Holocaust, as many Twitter users continue to comment that Goldberg “didn’t understand the gravity” of the Holocaust, as one wrote, or that her comments were “annoyingly clueless.”

As CNN writes, Greenblatt explained that while Jewish people don’t “fit neatly” into the Black and White binary view of race in the US, the anti-Semitism that they have long faced is simply another form of racism. “There’s no question that the Holocaust was about race. That’s how the Nazis saw it as they perpetrated the systematic annihilation of the Jewish people across continents, across countries, with deliberate and ruthless cruelty,” he said during the interview.

Overall, there’s so much for Goldberg to unpack about the gruesomeness of the Holocaust and why thousands of fans and viewers were upset by her comments. As of today, we know she will be suspended from The View for two weeks, and we’ll look out for any updates as they come.