Whoopi Goldberg returns to ‘The View’ EARLY after suspension over Holocaust comments

Whoopi Goldberg has returned to ABC’s The View two days early despite being served a two-week suspension over controversial comments she made on the show regarding the Holocaust.

Whoopi, 66, missed eight episodes as a result of the suspension which was set to last an entire two weeks, around 10 episodes, but returned to the show on Monday, February 14, to resume her role as co-host.

The well-known American actress and TV personality greeted viewers, refusing to shy away from controversy she declared, “Well, hello, hello, hello and welcome to The View. And yes, I am back.”

“And we missed you,” co-host Joy Behar replied.

“And I missed you too. I got to tell you, there’s something kind of marvellous about being on a show like this because we are The View and this is what we do and sometimes we don’t do it as elegantly as we could,” Whoopi admitted.

Whoopi went on to thank those who supported her during her suspension and explain that the show was about having “tough conversations” that aren’t “always what other people want to hear”.

“And I want to thank everybody who reached out while I was away,” she said.

“And I’m telling you, people reached out from places that made me go, ‘Wait, wait, what? Really? OK!’ And it was amazing and I listened to everything everybody had to say and I was very grateful and I hope it keeps all the important conversations happening because we’re going to keep having tough conversations.”

“And it’s not always pretty and it’s not always what other people want to hear but it is an honour to sit at this table and be able to have these conversations because they’re important.”

On the January 31 broadcast of The View, Whoopi made controversial comments about the Holocaust, claiming the devastating time in history was “not about race”. After immediate public backlash, ABC boss Kim Godwin placed Whoopi on a two-week unpaid suspension.

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— Whoopi Goldberg (@WhoopiGoldberg) February 1, 2022

Whoopi appeared on The View the next day, February 1, where she made a public apology for her comments before her suspension commenced.

“I said something that I feel a responsibility for not leaving unexamined, because my words upset so many people, which was never my intention. I understand why now, and for that I am deeply, deeply grateful because the information I got was really helpful, and it helped me understand some different things,” she said in the apology.

“I said the Holocaust wasn’t about race and was instead about man’s inhumanity to man. But it is indeed about race because Hitler and the Nazis considered Jews to be an inferior race.”