Whoopi Goldberg made her return to The View Monday following a two-week suspension.
“Yes, I am back,” Goldberg said at the top of the episode.
“We’re going to keep having tough conversations,” Goldberg added.
“And in part, because this is what we’ve been hired to do. And it’s not always pretty, as I said, and it is not always as other people would like to hear.”
“But it is an honor to sit at this table and be able to have these conversations, because they are important.”
“They are important to us as a nation and to us more so as a human entity.”
The controversy started following the episode that aired Monday, January 31.
The cast talked about a Tennessee school board’s banning of the graphic novel Maus, with Goldberg saying that “the Holocaust isn’t about race… it’s about man’s inhumanity to man.”
Goldberg issued a statement in response to the backlash that night.
“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,” she said.
“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 that I have caused.”
That night, Goldberg also appeared on the Late Show With Stephen Colbert and said the following:
It upset a lot of people, which was never ever, ever my intention. I feel, being Black, when we talk about race, it’s a very different thing to me.
So I said I thought the Holocaust wasn’t about race. And people got very angry and still are angry.
I’m getting a lot of mail from folks and a lot of real anger.
Whoopi’s suspension was confirmed shortly after the episode.
“Effective immediately, I am suspending Whoopi Goldberg for two weeks for her wrong and hurtful comments,” a statement from ABC News president Kim Godwin reads.
“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.”
Paul Dailly is the Associate Editor for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.
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