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Whoopi Goldberg has returned to ‘The View’ after a two week suspension.
The 66-year-old actress had been suspended from her presenting role after claiming during a debate that the Holocaust was “not about race” and noted in her opening speech on her return to the talk show that it was “marvellous” to be back.
She said: “Hello, hello, hello and welcome to The View. And yes, I am back. I missed you all. 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.”
The ‘Sister Act’ star then went on to seemingly acknowledge her ill-received comments about the Holocaust by stating that debates on the show are not always handled as “eloquently” as they could be.
She added: “Sometimes we don’t do this as eloquently as we could.”
Whoopi – who was joined on her return to the ABC panel show by Joy Behar, Sara Haines, Sunny Hostin and guest host Ana Navarro – had initially apologised for her comments on the following episode of the show just before she was landed with a two-week suspension.
She told viewers: “I said something that I feel a responsibility for not leaving unexamined because my words upset so many people, which was never my intention. And 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.”
Her comments were criticised by the Anti-Defamation League and the Oscar-winning actress went on to issue a separate apology to the organisation, which was accepted.
Frederic L. Bloch, chief growth officer of the ADL, said in a statement: “We criticized this misinformed statement and called for Goldberg to get her facts right and apologize. She did so, and graciously invited our CEO Jonathan Greenblatt to come onto ‘The View’ to talk about the racial underpinnings of the Holocaust and the problems caused by comments like Goldberg’s. ADL has accepted her apology, as we have always known her as someone who stands up for the Jewish community. Goldberg has been suspended for two weeks by ABC News.
