Whoopi Goldberg returned to The View on Monday following a two-week suspension over controversial comments she made about the Holocaust.
The Sister Act star came under fire on 31 January for saying that "the Holocaust isn't about race. It's about man's inhumanity to man." She subsequently offered an apology on social media and the next episode of The View. However, after that episode aired, ABC officials announced she had been suspended for two weeks over her controversial remarks.
Returning to the show on Monday, Goldberg told viewers, "Well, hello, hello, hello and welcome to The View. And yes, I am back... And I missed you all, too."
She did not specifically acknowledge her Holocaust comments or offer an additional apology on the show. However, she admitted that they don't always handle topics "delicately" but would continue to have tough conversations.
"Sometimes we don't do it as delicately as we could... But it's five minutes to get in important information about topics. And that's what we try to do every day," she continued. "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 have 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 honour 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."
She concluded her opening speech by saying, "So, Happy Valentine's Day, y'all! And we're going to get started, because that's what we do."
