Bill Maher says Whoopi Goldberg’s The View suspension for Holocaust comments is ‘so insulting’

‘There is no impact,’ he said of Goldberg’s comments that were branded ‘ignorant’ and ‘dangerous’

Bill Maher has said he disagrees with the decision to suspend Whoopi Goldberg for her remarks about the Holocaust.

The late night host of Real Time discussed the controversy surrounding the Sister Act star, who was suspended from The View after saying the Holocaust “isn’t about race”.

Goldberg, who has since issued two apologies, said on Monday’s (31 January) episode of the US talk show: “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. That’s the problem.”

The entertainment star was widely criticised for her comments, which were branded “ignorant” and “dangerous”. Her suspension from the ABC show will last two weeks.

Maher, who has had public run-ins with Goldberg in the past, said that she “should not be cancelled or put off her show as much as I totally disagree with her crazy statement”.

He added: “Free speech! She should be there,” and said that the network telling Goldberg to use her time off to “reflect and learn” is “so insulting”.

Maher also questioned ABC’s use of the word “impact”, saying; “There is no impact. There are not neo-Nazis waiting for the green light from a lady on The View.”

‘Free speech!’ Bill Maher has called out ABC’s decision to suspend Whoopi Goldberg (YouTube)

A differing opinion came earlier this week from comedian and writer David Baddiel, who was praised for his “eloquent” breakdown of Goldberg’s comments on Good Morning Britain.

He said: The problem with it is there are so many issues – and I’m a fan of Whoopi Goldberg’s – but there are so many issues with what she said. It does reveal an awful lot about the confusions people have around antisemitism.”

“One of the principle things going on here is the resistance to the idea that antisemitisim is racism,” he continued. “What does Whoopi Goldberg think it is? What a lot of people think it is is religious intolerance.

He continued by saying that “the Nazis were not interested in faith; they were interested in racial purity”.

Whoopi Goldberg was criticised for saying ‘Holocaust isn’t about race’ (ABC)

The Holocaust is widely defined as the state-sanctioned extermination of Jews by Nazi Germany across Europe during the Second World War. It is estimated that around six million Jews were killed, as well as millions of others including foreigners, disabled people and homosexuals.

The Nazis’ persecution of Jews was explicitly racial, rather than religious. “Judenpolitik” targeted not only practising Jews but also people who had converted to Christianity, and those with Jewish grandparents.