Actress Whoopi Goldberg is receiving criticism from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) over her comments about the Holocaust.
ADL chief Jonathan Greenblatt posted a thread on Twitter reacting to an interview between Goldberg and The Sunday Times of London.
During the interview, Goldberg appeared to suggest that there is a division among Jewish people about whether they are a race or religion.
“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,’” she said.
The Times journalist Janice Turner pushed back against Goldberg, saying, “Nazis saw Jews as a race.”
Goldberg replied, “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?”
She continued, “It doesn’t change the fact that you could not tell a Jew on a street. You could find me. You couldn’t find them.”
Commenting on the interview, Greenblatt wrote, “Yet again, [Whoopi Goldberg’s] comments about the Holocaust and race are deeply offensive and incredibly ignorant. When she made similar comments earlier this year, we explained how the Nazi regime was inherently racist.”
He added, “The Nazis set out to exterminate the Jewish people, whom they viewed as inferior to the mythical ‘Aryan master race.’ They used pseudo-scientific theories of race to justify their anti-Jewish ‘race laws’ and systemic slaughter of millions.”
The Nazis set out to exterminate the Jewish people, whom they viewed as inferior to the mythical “Aryan master race.” They used pseudo-scientific theories of race to justify their anti-Jewish "race laws" and systemic slaughter of millions.
— Jonathan Greenblatt (@JGreenblattADL) December 27, 2022
Greenblatt argued it is “no coincidence that white supremacists in the US today echo the Nazis’ ‘master race’ claim as they spread their antisemitic and racist hate.”
Concluding the thread, he wrote, “Whoopi’s comments show a complete lack of awareness of the multiethnic, multiracial makeup of the Jewish community. She needs to apologize immediately and actually commit to educating herself on the true nature of [Antisemitism.]”
Additionally, Whoopi’s comments show a complete lack of awareness of the multiethnic, multiracial makeup of the Jewish community. She needs to apologize immediately and actually commit to educating herself on the true nature of #antisemitism. https://t.co/rDyK7LaVuW
— Jonathan Greenblatt (@JGreenblattADL) December 27, 2022
Earlier this year, Goldberg was suspended for making similar comments about the Holocaust during “The View.”
“Effective immediately, I am suspending Whoopi Goldberg for two weeks for her wrong and hurtful comments,” ABC News president Kim Godwin said in a statement at the time.
She explained, “While Whoopi has apologized, I’ve asked her to take time to reflect and learn about the impact of her comments. The entire ABC News organization stands in solidarity with our Jewish colleagues, friends, family and communities.”