OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
ABC’s “The View” co-host Whoopi Goldberg is “untouchable” after the show suffered a ratings drop during her suspension, a source told the New York Post.
The Post claims that a source revealed that Goldberg feels more emboldened than ever because ratings for the daytime talk show dropped in her absence.
The source claimed that Goldberg “returned to work with a big grin on her face” due to the ratings drop. “She’s strutting around the place. She’s peacocking.”
During her suspension, the Post reports the talk show dropped 283,000 viewers, resulting in a season-low for total viewers in key demographics.
In Goldberg’s first week back from the suspension, “The View” added 2.3 million viewers, which the Post noted was the biggest week-to-week gain for any daytime broadcast series.
“With Whoopi out from the show on suspension, the ratings dropped to the lowest in total viewers and key demos of the season,” the insider continued. “At the end of the day, TV is a business. The only thing that really matters is ratings.”
“Whoopi is untouchable,” they concluded. “She’s the queen bee.”
Whoopi Goldberg is 'untouchable' at 'The View' after suspension https://t.co/BexubL8Q5t pic.twitter.com/LoU33khBcL
— New York Post (@nypost) February 25, 2022
Goldberg was suspended after she claimed on the show that the Holocaust was “not about race,” but rather “about man’s inhumanity to man.”
When she returned from her suspension, Goldberg spoke vaguely about the controversy but didn’t apologize or even directly mention the controversy.
Instead, she said the panel would continue having “tough” conversations moving forward.
“Hello, hello, hello, and welcome to ‘The View’ — and yes, I am back,” Goldberg began.
“We missed you,” co-host Joy Behar replied.
“And I missed you all too,” Goldberg agreed. “I got to 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 it as elegantly as we could, and sometimes – but it’s five minutes to get in important information about topics.”
“And that’s what we try to do every day, and I want to thank everybody who reached out while I was away, and I’m telling you,” Goldberg continued. “People reached out from places that made me go, wait, wait. What? Really? Okay!”
“And 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.”
“Yeah,” co-host Sunny Hostin agreed.
“And in part, because this is what we have 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,” Goldberg concluded. “They’re important to us as a nation, and to us more so as a human entity. So happy Valentine’s Day, y’all.”
WATCH:
BREAKING: Whoopi Goldberg is back on #TheView after her two-week suspension from the show pic.twitter.com/Epg8clumtE
— The Chat (@LiveOnTheChat) February 14, 2022
CNN Chief Media Correspondent Brian Stelter also noted that Goldberg made no direct mention of her comments that got her suspended.
“Whoopi Goldberg back on @TheView after a two-week suspension. No direct mention of the controversy. ‘I want to thank everybody who reached out while I was away… I listened… We’re going to keep having tough conversations. In part because that’s what we’ve been hired to do,’” Stelter wrote.
Whoopi Goldberg back on @TheView after a two-week suspension. No direct mention of the controversy. "I want to thank everybody who reached out while I was away… I listened… We're going to keep having tough conversations. In part because that's what we've been hired to do."
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) February 14, 2022
When you apologize but continue defend your comments, that’s not really an apology. @WhoopiGoldberg is a racist antisemite: ‘View' host Whoopi Goldberg returns from suspension over Holocaust remarks: 'Honor to sit at this table'https://t.co/76kcMcz1Pm
— Let’s Go Brandon (@NedRyerson1776) February 14, 2022
While she was suspended, reports broke that Goldberg was “livid” that she was suspended from “The View” for two weeks over her highly controversial remarks about the Holocaust.
ABC News President Kim Godwin said that Goldberg would be suspended 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,” Godwin said. “The entire ABC News organization stands in solidarity with our Jewish colleagues, friends, family, and communities.”
“She feels ABC executives mishandled this. She followed their playbook. She went on ‘The Late Show With Steven Colbert’ and then apologized again on ‘The View’ the next day,” a source reportedly told the Post. “Her ego has been hurt and she’s telling people she’s going to quit. Suspension from ‘The View’ is like getting suspended from Bravo. The bar is very low.”
