American actress and TV host Whoopi Goldberg issued a statement of clarification after she made some controversial remarks about the Holocaust.
The 67-year-old personality was suspended from ABC's talk show The View in February 2022 after she stated that the genocide was "not about race." Goldberg doubled down on her controversial remarks in her recent interview with The Times UK, reigniting the debate.
However, she has now released a new statement to Rolling Stone apologizing for her remarks.
“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. I’m still learning a lot and believe me, I heard everything everyone said to me. I believe that the Holocaust was about race, and I am still as sorry now as I was then that I upset, hurt and angered people.”
She also apologized to people who "thought this was a fresh rehash of the subject," which she promised it was not.
"In this time of rising antisemitism, I want to be very clear when I say that I always stood with the Jewish people and always will. My support for them has not wavered and never will.”
Whoopi Goldberg claimed it was wrong to call Holocaust a "racial" crime
Whoopi Goldberg first sparked controversy on the January 31, 2022's episode of The View when she stated that the Holocaust wasn't racial.
"[The Holocaust] was not about race. It's not. It's about man's inhumanity to other man."
A day later, she appeared on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert to do damage control and elaborate on her stance on the Holocaust before issuing an apology.
The Sister Act star stated that the Nazis had to "do the work" to spot a Jewish person in contrast to black people who were easily identifiable. She added that the Holocaust was not based on skin color and was something more "evil" than that.
But Whoopi Goldberg apologized on the show, stating it was never her intention to upset people.
"People were very angry, and said no, we are a race. And I understand. I felt differently. I respect everything everyone is saying to me. I don't want to fake apologize. I am very upset that people misunderstood what I was saying."
She was later suspended from ABC's talk show for two weeks. In an interview with The Sunday Times published on Saturday, December 24, Whoopi Goldberg addressed her controversial remarks once again, stating that the Holocaust "was not originally" about race.
“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.'"
When the reporter stated that the Nazis admitted that they saw Jews as a race, Goldberg stated:
“Yes, but that’s the killer, isn’t it? The oppressor is telling you what you are. Why are you believing them? They’re Nazis. Why believe what they’re saying?”
An activist group, the Anti-Defamation League, called out Whoopi Goldberg for making "deeply offensive comments" once again.