Whoopi Goldberg Apologizes for Holocaust Comments on ‘The View’: “I Stand Corrected”

The View co-host Whoopi Goldberg issued a forceful and seemingly heartfelt apology on the program Tuesday for comments she had made Monday about the Jewish people and the Holocaust in response to a local school board banning the graphic novel Maus.

“Yesterday on the show I misspoke,” Goldberg said to open the talk show, adding that she got “really helpful” information and feedback in the wake of her comments, which she shared on The View and during a Late Show appearance. “[The Holocaust] is indeed about race, because Hitler and the Nazis considered the Jews to be an inferior race. Now, words matter, and mine are no exception. I regret my comments and I stand corrected. I also stand with the Jewish people.”

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The View then hosted Jonathan Greenblatt, the CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, to lead them in a discussion, with Goldberg saying, “I know a lot of people were upset about what I said yesterday, and the things that I regret, so I wanted to clear this up.”

Particularly, Goldberg asked him to explain why the Holocaust was about race.

“Whoopi, there is no question that the Holocaust was about race. That is how the Nazis saw it as they sought the systematic annihilation of the Jewish people — across continents, across countries, with deliberate and ruthless cruelty,” Greenblatt said, calling out the “huge platform” that a show like The View has on public opinion.

“This is an ongoing discussion, Jonathan, as you know, and one that we will continue to have because it is important, and because it affects all of us,” Goldberg responded.

Greenblatt added that The View should consider adding a Jewish host to fill the open co-host spot vacated by Meghan McCain. “People think I’m Jewish, but I’m not,” Behar quipped in response.

Kicking off the controversy on Monday, Goldberg had said, “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.”

Co-host Ana Navarro responded by saying: “But it’s about white supremacists going after Jews.“

“But these are two white groups of people!” Goldberg replied. “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.”

Goldberg later apologized on her social feeds, writing that “the Jewish people around the world have always had my support and that will never waiver [sic],” and adding, “I’m sorry for the hurt that I have caused.”