Media top headlines February 1
In media news today, Whoopi Goldberg issues an apology for her comments on the Holocaust, an ‘Atlantic’ writer says Putin could have been emboldened by Biden’s ‘failure’ in Afghanistan, and a CBS host says Joe Rogan doesn’t have a ‘First Amendment right’ to be on Spotify.
"The View" host Whoopi Goldberg doled out a day of apologies on Monday after insisting that the Holocaust was not about race.
Goldberg joined "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" to backtrack on her comments and address that she understands why she was wrong after receiving "very angry" messages from the public.
"I understand," she said. "I felt differently. I respect everything everyone is saying to me and I don’t want to fake apologize…I’m very upset that people misunderstood what I was saying."
"It upset a lot of people which was never, ever, ever, ever my intention… I thought we were having a discussion."
‘THE VIEW’ HOST WHOOPI GOLDBERG CLAIMS HOLOCAUST WASN'T ABOUT RACE: ‘THESE ARE TWO WHITE GROUPS’
As a Black woman, Goldberg explained that her perception of race is based on skin color, but it’s become apparent to her that people feel "very differently."
"I think of race as being something that I can see," she said. "So, I see you and I know what race you are."
![Whoopi Goldberg on "The View," Tuesday, May 28, 2019. (Walt Disney Television/Lou Rocco)](https://a57.foxnews.1eye.us/static.foxnews.1eye.us/foxnews.1eye.us/content/uploads/2020/12/1200/675/whoopi.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
Whoopi Goldberg on "The View," Tuesday, May 28, 2019. (Walt Disney Television/Lou Rocco)
In an effort to express her own feelings about the mass genocide that killed six million Jews, Goldberg positioned the tragedy as "man’s inhumanity to man" instead of racism.
"This wasn’t based on the skin," she said. "You couldn’t tell who was Jewish. They had to delve deeply to figure it out… My point is, they had to do the work."
WHOOPI GOLDBERG ISSUES APOLOGY FOR HOLOCAUST COMMENTS: ‘I STAND CORRECTED’
Goldberg encouraged the public not to write her anymore since she’s heard the message loud and clear, vowing to never bring up the topic again.
!["The View" co-hosts Whoopi Goldberg, Sara Haines, Joy Behar, Sunny Hostin and Anna Navarro (Screenshot/ABC)](https://a57.foxnews.1eye.us/static.foxnews.1eye.us/foxnews.1eye.us/content/uploads/2021/11/1200/675/The-View-1.png?ve=1&tl=1)
"The View" co-hosts Whoopi Goldberg, Sara Haines, Joy Behar, Sunny Hostin and Anna Navarro (Screenshot/ABC)
"I did it to myself," she said. "This was my thought process and I’ll work hard not to think that way again."
The host released an official statement Monday evening, after her pre-taped appearance with Colbert, apologizing for the "hurt" she had caused.
"On today's show, I said the Holocaust ‘is not about race, but about man’s inhumanity to man.' I should have said it is about both," she wrote. "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."
Goldberg’s outburst began during a discussion about a Tennessee school district voting to remove a Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel about the Holocaust from its curriculum due to "inappropriate language" and an illustration of a nude woman. "Maus" by Art Spiegelman tells the story of his Jewish parents living in 1940s Poland and depicts him interviewing his father about his experiences as a Holocaust survivor.
Guest co-host Ana Navarro mentioned a Florida bill that could prevent any conversation in schools that makes students feel uncomfortable about race or gender, prompting colleague Sunny Hostin to question if teaching students about topics like the Holocaust could eventually be prohibited.
"The Holocaust isn’t about race," Goldberg asserted as her co-hosts appeared stunned. "No, it’s not about race."
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Fox News’ Brian Flood and Joseph A. Wulfsohn contributed to this report.