Whoopi Goldberg has been forced to issue an apology after she claimed the Holocaust was “not about race”.
Speaking on ABC’s The View, Goldberg, 66, said the genocide of six million Jews was about “man’s inhumanity to other man”.
The comments sparked backlash from Jonathan Greenblatt, leader of the Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish anti-hate watchdog and the US Holocaust Museum.
The actress and comedian later issued an apology saying: “On today’s show, I said the Holocaust ‘is not about race but man’s inhumanity to man.’
“I should have it is about both. As Jonathan Greenblatt from the Anti-Defamation League shared, ‘The Holocaust was about the Nazi’s systematic annihilation of the Jewish people - who they deemed to be an inferior race.’ I stand corrected.
“The Jewish people around the world have always had my support and that will never waiver. I’m sorry for the hurt have caused.”
At the time of her original comments, co-hosts Joy Behar, 79, and Sara Haines, 44, disputed the Oscar-winning actress’ remarks.
Goldberg initially said: “It’s not about race. It’s not. It’s about man’s inhumanity to other man."
She later added during the debate: “The minute you turn it into race, it goes down this alley. Let’s talk about it for what it is.
“It’s how people treat each other. It’s a problem."
The discussion on Monday began after a Tennessee school board banned Maus, a graphic novel about Nazi death camps during World War Two.
