Happy Valentine’s Day: Whoopi Goldberg Is Back on The View

“Wow, hello hello hello, and welcome to The View. And yes—I am back,” were the first words Whoopi Goldberg spoke in two weeks on the daytime talk show that employs her. Goldberg was benched after incorrectly claiming on the show that the Holocaust was “not about race,” but instead “about man’s inhumanity to man.” Goldberg apologized and corrected herself in a tweet later that night. The next day, her two-week suspension from the show was announced. ABC News President Kim Godwin issued a statement that read in part: “While Whoopi has apologized, I’ve asked her to take time to reflect and learn about the impact of her comments.”

Goldberg’s opening remarks were seemingly colored more by reflection than contrition, per se. She emphasized the privilege and shortcomings of her talk-show forum instead of going back over her remarks and apology. “I gotta tell you, there’s something kind of marvelous about being on a show like this,” she said. “We are The View and this is what we do, and sometimes we don’t do it as elegantly as we could…It’s five minutes to get in important information about topics, and that’s what we try to do everyday.”

Goldberg thanked “everybody who reached out while I was away,” said she listened to what they had to say, and was grateful for the feedback. “I hope it keeps all the important conversations happening, ‘cause we’re gonna keep having tough conversations and in part because this is what we’ve been hired to do.”

Goldberg added, “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.”

And then she wished everyone a happy Valentine’s Day. Who needs roses when you’ve got Whoopi back on The View, having conversations that are important to us as a human entity?