‘The View’: Whoopi Goldberg Reappears as Moderator After 2-Week Suspension
Whoopi Goldberg had been absent from The View on a two-week suspension. The show’s moderator went on a mandatory break from the ABC daytime program after getting backlash over insensitive comments about the Holocaust. Although Goldberg apologized for her words, it wasn’t enough, and she ended up receiving corrective action. After being forced out of her spot on the “Hot Topics” table, Goldberg returned and didn’t hesitate to address it on the show.
What did Whoopi Goldberg say upon her return?
Goldberg finally returned to The View on Monday, Feb. 14 to moderate the “Hot Topics” of the day. As soon as the episode started, Goldberg wasted no time in addressing her comeback and the reason why she was grateful for the show.
“Well, hello, hello, hello, and welcome to The View. And yes, I am back… And I missed you all too,” Goldberg said at the top of the hour. “I’ve got to tell you, there’s something kind of marvelous about being on a show like this because we are The View and this is what we do. And sometimes we don’t do it as delicately as we could… But it’s five minutes to get in important information about topics. And that’s what we try to do every day. And I want to thank everybody who reached out while I was away.”
Goldberg also said, “I’m telling you, people reached out from places that made me go, ‘Wait, wait, what? Really? OK!’ And it was amazing and I listened to everything everybody had to say and I was very grateful, and I hope it keeps all the important conversations happening because we’re going to keep having tough conversations. And in part, because this is what we have been hired to do. And it’s not always pretty, as I said, and it’s 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’re important. They’re important to us as a nation, and to us more so as a human entity. So, happy Valentine’s Day, y’all! And we’re going to get started because that’s what we do.”
Whoopi Goldberg apologized for her comments
After Goldberg made the unfortunate comments, she showed up to the show the following day and apologized on-air.
“Yesterday on our show, I misspoke, I tweeted about it last night but I want you to hear it from me directly,” Goldberg said on the show that aired Feb. 1. “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.”
During a discussion on books that were banned, Goldberg talked about a particular book that was set in the Holocaust.
“Let’s be truthful about it because [the] Holocaust isn’t about race,” Goldberg said on the show on Monday, Jan. 31. “It’s not about race. It’s about man’s inhumanity to man.”
Following the backlash, ABC News opted to suspend the EGOT legend for two weeks to reflect on her comments.
