Whoopi Goldberg breaks silence on latest Holocaust comments

Whoopi Goldberg walks back ‘hurtful’ Holocaust comments, again: ‘I’m still sorry’

Whoopi Goldberg, in a black suit, poses at a red carpet event

Dec. 27, 2022 7:16 PM PT

Whoopi Goldberg‘s comments about the Holocaust have landed her in hot water for the second time this year. But the “Till” actor said she did not mean any harm.

Months after Goldberg claimed on “The View” that the Holocaust was “not about race,” the actor spoke to the British newspaper the Times about her controversial comments in an interview that was published over the weekend.

“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,’” Goldberg told the news outlet.

When reporter Janice Turner told Goldberg that Nazis “saw Jews as a race,” the actor replied: “The oppressor is telling you what you are. Why are you believing them?

“They’re Nazis,” she continued. “Why believe what they’re saying?”

In addition to reiterating that the Holocaust “wasn’t originally” about race, the actor also claimed it was easier for Nazis to spot Black people for their physical differences “because you could not tell a Jew on a street.”

“That was the point I was making,” she said. “But you would have thought that I’d taken a big old stinky dump on the table, butt naked.”

Although Goldberg was attempting to clarify her January comments, some critics saw it as doubling down on her claims. Among those calling out the “Sister Act” star was Anti-Defamation League Chief Executive Jonathan Greenblatt.

“Yet again, #WhoopiGoldberg’s comments about the Holocaust and race are deeply offensive and incredibly ignorant,” he tweeted Tuesday morning.

His Twitter thread continued: “Whoopi’s comments show a complete lack of awareness of the multiethnic, multiracial makeup of the Jewish community. She needs to apologize immediately and actually commit to educating herself on the true nature of #antisemitism.”

After several outlets reported on the backlash surrounding Goldberg’s Times interview, the actor attempted to clear the air, again, Tuesday evening.

“I tried to convey to the reporter what I had said and why, and attempted to recount that time,” she said in a statement shared with the Los Angeles Times on Tuesday. “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.”

Goldberg, who says she’s “still learning a lot,” noted that she believes “the Holocaust was about race, and I am still sorry now as I was then.”

In January, ABC News suspended Goldberg for her Holocaust comments. She was out as “The View” co-host for two weeks.

“While Whoopi has apologized, I’ve asked her to take time to reflect and learn about the impact of her comments,” ABC News President Kim Godwin said in a staff memo in February. “The entire ABC News organization stands in solidarity with our Jewish colleagues, friends, family and communities.”

Hours after her suspension, Goldberg appeared on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” and told the host it “was never ever, ever, ever my intention” to hurt people.

“I thought we were having a discussion. I feel, being Black, when we talk about race, it’s a very different thing to me,” she told Colbert. “So I said that I felt the Holocaust wasn’t about race. And people got very, very, very angry — and still are angry.”

Goldberg concluded her Tuesday statement voicing support for the Jewish community amid rising antisemitic attacks.

“I want to be very clear when I say that I always stood with the Jewish people and always will,” she said. “My support for them has not wavered and never will.”

Whoopi Goldberg walks back ‘hurtful’ Holocaust comments, again: ‘I’m still sorry’

More to Read

More From the Los Angeles Times

Most Read in Entertainment & Arts