Whoopi Goldberg is reportedly “livid” after she was suspended from “The View” over her claim that the Holocaust was “not about race” — and is telling co-workers she is going to quit the show, according to a source.
According to an exclusive with the NY Post Whoopi Goldberg feels “humiliated” at being disciplined by ABC execs after she followed their advice to apologize for the ill-conceived comments, a well-placed insider told The Post.
“She feels ABC executives mishandled this. She followed their playbook. She went on ‘The Late Show With Steven Colbert’ and then apologized again on ‘The View’ the next day,” a source said.
— Whoopi Goldberg (@WhoopiGoldberg) February 1, 2022
The source added that while Goldberg is taking the suspension hard and says she wants to leave the show, insiders believe she’s likely just sounding off.
“Her ego has been hurt and she’s telling people she’s going to quit,” the source said. “Suspension from ‘The View’ is like getting suspended from Bravo. The bar is very low.”
Goldberg raised eyebrows on “The View” Monday when she insisted that Nazis and Jews were both white.
Higher-ups at the network urged Goldberg to make amends on “The Late Show” that evening but she repeated the statement while attempting to clarify her comments.
The next day, she invited Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt to the show to discuss her offensive remarks and to apologize again.
But her words weren’t enough for ABC top brass. Kim Godwin, ABC News president, announced her decision to suspend Goldberg for two weeks late Tuesday, telling staffers that such decisions “are never easy, but necessary.”
NEW: ABC suspends Whoopi Goldberg from ‘The View’ after Holocaust comments.#WhoopiGoldberg pic.twitter.com/nCujFm5YjX
— World Wire News ? ? (@SamIAmWorldWire) February 2, 2022
“Words matter and we must be cognizant of the impact our words have,” Godwin wrote in a memo to employees that dubbed Goldberg’s initial comments “wrong and hurtful.”
As news of the suspension rippled through the network, it angered not only Goldberg but also her co-hosts on the daytime talk show.
“I love Whoopi Goldberg. I love ‘The View,’” Ana Navarro told the Daily Beast on Tuesday evening. “This was an incredibly unfortunate incident.
Whoopi is a lifelong ally to the Jewish community. She is not an anti-Semite, period. I am sad. And I have nothing else to say.”
Dear @ABC,
No one was asking for @WhoopiGoldberg to be suspended. She didn’t act with malice. We want discussions on antisemitism. We want a discussion on how groups like @amnesty & @hrw, & politicians perpetuate it with lies. We want education, not suspension.#WhoopiGoldberg
— Evan Ross ✡️?? (@MrEvanRoss) February 2, 2022
and
ABC refuses to comment on the scandal.
The scandal they created by turning a blind eye to Antisemitism and the black privilege used to dismiss Whoopi’s blatant racism.#antisemitism #WhoopiGoldberg pic.twitter.com/wLh3R9XNtM
— M.Savagefan (@Boabbysam) February 1, 2022
and
People make mistakes. The good ones apologize. The real focus should be on actual Nazis like the ones screaming kill Jews in Orlando. I’m saving my outrage for them & those that are in a position of power & are silent. @GovRonDeSantis #WhoopiGoldberg #Antisemitism
— Rabbi Jill Zimmerman (@RabbiJill) February 2, 2022
Comment below!
Update: Whoopi is on unpaid leave according to the Daily Mail.
She will lose $192k due to her suspension.
According to the Daily Mail staffers welcomed the suspension and said it finally brings an end to Whoopi and her co-host Joy Behar doing ‘whatever they wanted’, a problem they said started when Barbara Walters left the show.
‘ABC understands that this is an opinion based show, the facts will always be paramount.
We want robust discussion but can’t have the hosts saying things that are false and not based in fact.
‘What Whoopi said was not based in fact and was highly inflammatory and offensive.