Actor and presenter of US talk show The View, Whoopi Goldberg, has been suspended from her role for two weeks following anger over “wrong and hurtful comments” she made about the Holocaust, ITV reports.
Ms Goldberg had been asked to take time to “reflect and learn about the impact of her comments,” Kim Godwin, president of ABC News, said.
The move comes after Ms Goldberg said the historic atrocity was not “about race” during a discussion about a Tennessee school board’s decision to ban Pulitzer prize-winning Holocaust graphic novel Maus.
Following a backlash to her remarks online, Ms Goldberg, 66, apologised, saying Jewish people around the world have “always had my support” in a statement.
But in a statement posted online on Tuesday, Ms Godwin said: “Effective immediately I am suspending Whoopi Goldberg for two weeks following her wrong and hurtful comments.
“While Whoopi has apologised, I have asked her to take time to reflect and learn about the impact of her comments.
“The entire ABC News organisation stands in solidarity with our Jewish colleagues, friends, family and communities.”
In the original discussion, Goldberg said: “Let’s be truthful, the Holocaust isn’t about race, it’s not.”
“It’s about man’s inhumanity to man, that’s what it’s about. These are two groups of white people.”
