ABC suspended Whoopi Goldberg from the popular daytime talk show The View for two weeks following controversial comments about the Holocaust. Her statements came while the hosts were discussing the Tennessee ban of Maus, a graphic novel about the tragedy.
Whoopi Goldberg Receives Unpaid 2-Week Suspension from The View for Controversial Holocaust Comments
She would pretty much double down on her statements on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Drawing a lot of heat for her remarks, she would apologize before ABC finally gave her the two-week suspension. A statement from ABC News president Kim Godwin included:
“Effective immediately, I am suspending Whoopi Goldberg for two weeks for her wrong and hurtful comments.
‘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.”
A former producer for The View, Daniella Greenbaum, addressed Goldberg’s statements in a Washington Post piece where she discussed her grandmother who survived the Holocaust and her producer-instincts to do damage control on the incident.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhITfM4bqO8
Greenbaum would point out that while Whoopi Goldberg’s perspective on the tragedy was awful and served to minimize the impact of those who suffered and survived. However, she would go further to say that it’s a perspective that is “all too common.”
A Missed Learning Opportunity
The show producer didn’t go too hard on Goldberg on her statement—perhaps because it’s not surprising that she said what she said it’s a common misconception of the Holocaust. It was Goldberg’s inaction while the Anti-Defamation League’s CEO and director Jonathan Greenblatt explained why the comments were ignorant and his suggestion of adding a Jewish co-host.
While Goldberg’s co-hosts asked questions and positively engaged Greenblatt, Greenbaum noticed that Goldberg remained silent. Ultimately, she felt that while the suspension was a “meaningful step”, an opportunity was missed for others to learn from the situation as it was never addressed why the thought left her mind and rolled out for all to hear.
Of several truly strong points in her piece, this one really sums up what is missing in situations like this, what could be done to stem ignorance about the Holocaust, and why this perspective on Jewish people in America is not only dangerous but allows people to minimalize one of history’s gravest tragedies:
“We could have seen a commitment to include Jews in future trainings for the show’s staff to avoid situations like this one. We could have seen the panel embrace Greenblatt’s suggestion to add a Jewish host, acknowledging that representation matters for everyone — including Jews. The discussion could have tried to get at the nature of antisemitism and explored how dismissing American Jews as just another kind of White people at the top of an oppressive power structure is, itself, antisemitic.”
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