Whoopi Goldberg was back on The View for Valentine’s Day, after serving just under two weeks’ suspension from the show following her controversial comments about the Holocaust. After ABC announced the suspension, seemingly everyone had an opinion about either Goldberg’s comments or the network’s handling of its longtime co-host (or both), and Goldberg touched on that subject in the show’s opening.
While she didn’t specifically mention her suspension, Whoopi Goldberg began the February 14 episode of The View by saying, “Yes, I am back,” and telling the rest of the panel that she had missed them before saying that she was honored to be a part of ongoing “tough conversations.” You can read her full quote below, per a video TMZ posted:
Wow, hello, hello, hello. Welcome to The View and yes, I am back… I missed you all too. I’ve gotta tell you, there is something kind of marvelous about being on a show like this because we are The View and this is what we do. Sometimes we don’t do it as elegantly as we could… It’s five minutes to get in important information about topics, and that’s what we try to do everyday. I want to thank everybody who reached out while I was away, and I’m telling you, people reached out from places that made me go, ‘Wait, what? Really? Okay.’ And it was amazing, and I listened to everything everybody had to say, and I was very grateful.
Whoopi Goldberg looked happy to be back, possibly putting to bed any concerns that the co-host would leave the show over her suspension. The Sister Act actress was allegedly upset over ABC’s handling of the situation, as she was suspended despite the actions she took in the immediate aftermath of her comments — in which she questioned the role race played in the Holocaust. She said she hopes The View continues to address important topics and have important conversations.
I hope it keeps all the important conversations happening because we’re gonna keep having tough conversations. In part because this is what we’ve been hired to do. It’s not always pretty, as I said, and it’s not always as other people would like to hear. But it is an honor to sit at this table and be able to have these conversations because they’re important. They’re important to us as a nation and more so as a human entity. Happy Valentine’s Day, y’all.
Co-host Sara Haines applauded along with the audience after Whoopi Goldberg’s opening remarks. Haines had taken to social media to defend Goldberg in the aftermath of the suspension, after a throwback photo of the two co-hosts drew some negative comments. She said “to learn from a moment is all we can ask of anyone.” Others on both sides of the aisle seemed to share in that sentiment, as Gina Carano promoted “conversation over cancellation,” and Scandal star Joshua Malina said Goldberg “misspoke.”
Others were not so forgiving, and not surprisingly, former co-host of The View Meghan McCain — who often sparred with Whoopi Goldberg during her time on the show — was among that group. McCain questioned why Goldberg should be so quickly forgiven while McCain often took heat for making controversial comments on the award-winning daytime talk show.
The View, which is currently celebrating its 25th season, airs weekday mornings on ABC at 11 a.m. ET. You can also check out our 2022 TV Schedule to see what shows are premiering soon.
