Whoopi Goldberg tells The View audience she ‘misspoke’ when she said the Holocaust ‘isn’t about race’

‘I kind of what you to hear it from me directly,’ she told the audience

Whoopi Goldberg addressed the controversy surrounding her comments on the Holocaust on Tuesday’s episode (1 February) of The View.

At the beginning of the latest episode of the US talk show, Goldberg admitted that she “misspoke” and that she has since received “really helpful” information regarding her comments.

The controversy began on Monday (31 January) when Goldberg and her co-hosts Joy Behar, Sara Haines and Ana Navarro discussed a Tennessee school board’s decision to ban Maus, a graphic novel about the Holocaust.

After talking about the graphic novel, Goldberg said: “Let’s be truthful about it because the Holocaust isn’t about race. No. It’s not about race.”

When Behar and Navarro countered Goldberg’s argument, the Sister Act star doubled down, stating: “But you’re missing the point! You’re missing the point. 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. That’s the problem.”

Goldberg was widely criticised for her comments, which were branded “ignorant”, and she apologised via her social media channels for hurting Jewish people “around the world”.

On Tuesday’s episode, she said: “I tweeted about it last night but I kind of what you to hear it from me directly,” she said. “I said something that I feel a responsibility for not leaving unexamined, because my words upset so many people, which was never my intention. And I understand why now and for that I am deeply, deeply grateful because the information I got was really helpful and helped me understand some different things.

“[The Holocaust] is indeed about race, because Hitler and the Nazis considered the Jews to be an inferior race,” she said. “Now, words matter, and mine are no exception. I regret my comments and I stand corrected. I also stand with the Jewish people.”

Jonathan Greenblatt, the sixth national director and CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, an organisation whose mission is to combat antisemitism and secure justice for Jewish people, appeared on the series on Tuesday.

Whoopi Goldberg issued a second apology for her ‘dangerous’ Holocaust comments on ‘The View’ (CBS)

When Goldberg asked him to explain why her comments were incorrect, he said: “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.”

Addressing the “huge platform” that a show like The View has when it comes to public opinion, Greenblatt suggested producers should hire a Jewish presenter.

Goldberg replied: “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.”

Greenblatt previously served in the White House as Special Assistant to former US president Barack Obama, and as director of the Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation.