Whoopi Goldberg has been suspended from US talkshow The View for two weeks after her comments about Jews and the Holocaust.
Kim Godwin, president of ABC News, which carries the show, said: “Effective immediately, I am suspending Whoopi Goldberg for two weeks for her wrong and hurtful comments.
“While Whoopi has apologised, I’ve asked her to take time to reflect and learn about the impact of her comments.
“The entire ABC News organisation stands in solidarity with our Jewish colleagues, friends, family and communities.”
Goldberg, 66, had appeared as co-host on Monday’s show, when the panel was discussing a US school board’s decision to ban Maus, a Pulitzer prize-winning graphic novel about the experiences of a Holocaust survivor.
“It’s about man’s inhumanity to man”
She had said: “Let’s be truthful – the Holocaust isn’t about race.
“It’s about man’s inhumanity to man – that’s what it’s about.”
When one of her co-hosts said the Holocaust was “about white supremacy”, Goldberg replied: “But these are two white groups of people.
“You’re missing the point. 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.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re black or white, because black, white, Jews… everybody eats each other.”
There was an angry reaction from groups such as the Anti-Defamation League and Stopantisemitism.org, describing her words as “dangerous” and “minimis(ing) our trauma and suffering”.
“It is about both”
Goldberg wrote an apology on Twitter later on Monday, saying: “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 am sorry for the hurt I have caused.
“Written with my sincerest apologies. Whoopi Goldberg.”
Mr Greenblatt later thanked Goldberg for her apology, adding: “As antisemitism surges to historic levels, I hope we can work together to combat ignorance of that horrific crime and the hate that threatens all.”