New York: Whoopi Goldberg has been suspended for two weeks as co-host of “The View'' because of what the head of ABC News called her “wrong and hurtful comments'' about the Holocaust.
The suspension came a day after Goldberg's comment during a discussion on “The View'' that race was not a factor in the Holocaust. Goldberg apologised hours later and again on Tuesday's morning episode, but the original remark drew condemnation from several prominent Jewish leaders.
Despite an apology from the host of "The View" talk show, ABC News President Kim Godwin said she had decided it was not enough.
"Effective immediately, I am suspending Whoopi Goldberg for two weeks for her wrong and hurtful comments," Godwin said in a statement posted on the TV channel's public relations Twitter account.
"While Whoopi has apologized, I've asked her to take time to reflect and learn about the impact of her comments," Godwin said.
The Oscar-winning TV personality said on the ABC's "The View" that the Holocaust involved "two white groups of people."
“My words upset so many people, which was never my intention,'' she said on Tuesday morning. “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.''
Goldberg made her original comments during a discussion on the show on Monday about a Tennessee school board's banning of “Maus,'' a Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel about the Nazi death camps during World War II. She said the Holocaust was “not about race ... it's about man's inhumanity to other man.''
“I misspoke,'' Goldberg said at the opening of Tuesday's show.
"On today's show, I said the Holocaust 'is not about race, but about man's inhumanity to man'. I should have said it is about both," Goldberg wrote in a Twitter apology late Monday.
"The Jewish people around the world have always had my support and that will never waiver. I'm sorry for the hurt I have caused," the 66-year-old added.
After Goldberg's comments, critics pointed out that race was central to the genocide, with the Nazis believing themselves to be a master race.
The US Holocaust Museum posted on Twitter that "racism was central to Nazi ideology."
"Jews were not defined by religion, but by race. Nazi racist beliefs fueled genocide and mass murder," it said, without referencing Goldberg's comments.
Godwin herself said in her statement that "the entire ABC News organization stands in solidarity with our Jewish colleagues, friends, family and communities."
Whoopi Goldberg expressed regret on Tuesday for saying on “The View'' a day earlier that race was not a factor in the Holocaust, saying she was “deeply, deeply grateful'' for getting an education on the topic.
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