Whoopi Goldberg has apologized after some comments she made about the Holocaust sparked backlash for a second time this week.
Back in February, Goldberg was suspended from “The View” for two weeks after commenting on the Holocaust and the role of race in the genocide.
In an interview with The Sunday Times that was published on Christmas Eve, Goldberg then 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,’” Rolling Stone reported.
“Nazis saw Jews as a race,” the reporter told Goldberg, to which she replied, “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?”
After her comments were met with criticism online, Goldberg released a statement to Rolling Stone.
She insisted, “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.”
Goldberg continued: “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.”
Holocaust survivor Lucy Lipiner was among those criticizing Goldberg after her The Times interview was published.
She posted:
Whoopi Goldberg continues to use the Holocaust as her punching bag.
We told her that her comments harm us and she simply doesn’t care. I survived the Nazis and the Holocaust, so I’ll be damned if I let a comedy has-been, peddling a fake Jewish name get the better of me. pic.twitter.com/wgAHGsBPPU
— Lucy Lipiner (@LucyLipiner) December 25, 2022
The Auschwitz Memorial Twitter account also posted a screengrab of a letter from Adolf Hitler in 1919, highlighting his comments about race.
Excerpt from Adolf Hitler’s letter on ‘the dangers currently presented by Jewry to our nation’ from 16 September 1919.
This text is one of the first major statements made by Hitler with regard to the Jewish question. pic.twitter.com/t56oHRWm2w
— Auschwitz Memorial (@AuschwitzMuseum) December 26, 2022
David Harris, the former CEO of the American Jewish Council, shared the tweet and added:
To #WhoopiGoldberg:
Take a moment to read this quote from Hitler. He says: “Firstly, Jews are definitely a race…”
In fact, he uses the word “race” 3x in just a few sentences.
Stop claiming the Holocaust wasn’t about race. It was all about race.
Please get a grip & move on. https://t.co/sYeUZz07Ak
— David Harris (@DavidHarrisNY) December 27, 2022
Before being suspended by “The View” earlier this year, Goldberg had taken part in a discussion about the Holocaust-themed graphic novel Maus being banned from school libraries in certain states.
“Let’s be truthful about it because Holocaust isn’t about race. It’s not about race. It’s not about race. It’s about man’s inhumanity to man,” Goldberg insisted at the time.
“But it’s about white supremacists going after Jews,” co-host Ana Navarro countered.
“But these are two white groups of people!” Goldberg fired back. “The minute you turn it into race it goes down this alley. Let’s talk about it for what it is. It’s how people treat each other. It doesn’t matter if you’re Black or white, Jews, it’s each other.”
