Photo: Getty Images
Whoopi Goldberg has again apologized after receiving backlash for her recent comments about the Holocaust, which seemed to align with the remarks she made in January that got her suspended from The View.
In a recent interview with the U.K. newspaper The Sunday Times, Goldberg claimed that the Holocaust wasn’t originally about race, seemingly doubling down on her previous comment that the Nazi-led genocide of Jews was "not about race."
“It wasn’t originally [about race],” Goldberg said in the recent interview. “Remember who they were killing first. They were not killing racial; they were killing physical. They were killing people they considered to be mentally defective. And then they made this decision.”
When the interviewer noted that Nazis viewed Jews as a race, Goldberg said, “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?”
Referring to the remark that got her suspended from the daytime talk show earlier this year, Goldberg argued: “You could not tell a Jew on a street. You could find me.”
“That was the point I was making,” she continued in the new interview. “But you would have thought that I’d taken a big old stinky dump on the table, butt naked.”
In a statement to HuffPost, Goldberg offered her "sincere apologies" for her latest remarks and said she does believe the Holocaust was about race.
“Recently, while doing press in London, I was asked about my comments from earlier this year. I tried to convey to the reporter what I had said and why and attempted to recount that time,” the statement reads. “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.”
Goldberg was previously suspended for two weeks in February for "her wrong and hurtful comments," ABC News President Kim Godwin said. In her apology at the time, the daytime television host said she was “sorry for the hurt I have caused.”
Goldberg said in her latest issued apology that she was "still learning a lot."
"...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,” her statement continued.
“I want to be very clear when I say that I always stood with the Jewish people and always will,” she added.
Several prominent organizations, including the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), have condemned Goldberg's latest comments, particularly in light of the rise in antisemitism.
“Whoopi Goldberg’s comments about the Holocaust and race are deeply offensive and incredibly disappointing, especially given that this is not the first time she had made remarks like this,” ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said in a statement. “In a moment when antisemitic incidents have surged across the U.S., she should realize that making such ignorant statements can have real consequences.”
Get the latest news 24/7 on The Black Information Network. Listen now on the iHeartRadio app or click HERE to tune in live.