Whoopi Goldberg Returns to ‘The View’ After Suspension (VIDEO)

Whoopi Goldberg on The View
ABC/Jenny Anderson

Whoopi Goldberg is back on The View after a two-week suspension.

She rejoined the talk show on February 14, opening it with “Yes, I am back. I gotta tell you, there’s something kind of marvelous about being on a show like this because we are The View and this is what we do and sometimes we don’t do this as elegantly as we could. It’s five minutes to get in important information about topics and that’s what we try to do every day. I want to thank everybody who reached out while I was away.”

Goldberg continued, “It was amazing, and I listened to everything everybody had to say and I was very grateful and I hope it keeps all the important conversations happening because we’re going to keep having tough conversations and in part because this is what we’ve been hired to do and 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 to us more so as a human entity.” Watch the video below for her full opening.

Goldberg’s suspension came after comments she made about the Holocaust during the Monday, January 31 episode of The View. During a discussion about a school banning the graphic novel Maus from its Holocaust curriculum, she said, “the Holocaust isn’t about race — it’s about man’s inhumanity to man.”

That night, Goldberg posted the following statement to her social media: “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. As Jonathan Greenblatt from the Anti-Defamation League shared, ‘The Holocaust was about the Nazis’ 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 waver. I’m sorry for the hurt that I have caused.”

The next night, ABC News shared a statement from its president, Kim Godwin, reading, “Effective immediately, I am suspending Whoopi Goldberg for two weeks for her wrong and hurtful comments. While Whoopi has apologized, I’ve asked her to take time to reflect and learn about the impact of her comments.”

Goldberg’s absence was only briefly addressed on-screen during the February 2 show, with co-host Joy Behar acknowledging that she would be back in two weeks.

The View, Weekdays, 11am/10c, ABC