PEOPLE
Whoopi Goldberg returned to “The View” Monday after a two-week suspension with virtually no attention paid to why she was out in the first place.
“Hello, hello, hello and welcome to ‘The View.’ And yes, I am back,” said Goldberg, who was suspended for two weeks by ABC News after making controversial comments about the Holocaust.
Joy Behar chimed in with, “We missed you.”
“And I missed you all too,” the “Sister Act” star responded. “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. Sometimes we don’t do it as elegantly as we could.”
Goldberg added, “It’s five minutes to get in important information about topics, and that’s what we try to do every day.”
On the Jan. 30 episode of “The View,” during a discussion about a Tennessee school district banning the book “Maus,” Goldberg said the Holocaust was “not about race. It’s about man’s inhumanity to man.”
After co-host Ana Navarro said it was about white supremacists going after Jews, Goldberg replied, “But these are two white groups of people! 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 doesn’t matter if you’re Black or white, Jews, it’s each other.”
Goldberg, 66, apologized via Twitter the same day, but that night appeared on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.” The episode was taped before the apology tweet went up.
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LOS ANGELES — After three years without a host, the Oscars are reportedly making up for lost time with three hosts for this year’s awards: Amy Schumer, Regina Hall and Wanda Sykes are in final talks to host the 94th Academy Awards, the trade publication Variety reported Monday.
Reports say that each actor will be responsible for one hour of the three-hour broadcast, airing live on ABC on March 27. Neither the academy nor representatives for Schumer, Hall and Sykes immediately responded to request for comment by The Associated Press. The hosts will be confirmed Tuesday morning on “Good Morning America.”
“Girls Trip” producer Will Packer is producing this year’s ceremony. Hall has been in several of Packer’s movies, including “Think Like a Man” and “Little.”
The show is hoping to rebound from the dismal viewership of last year’s broadcast, which was both an all-time low and the norm for pandemic-era awards shows. In addition to bringing back starry hosts and bumping the best picture nominees to a set ten, the Academy is also hoping to spike interest through social media voting for a “fan favorite” movie that will be announced during the show, as well as a chance to win a trip to Los Angeles for the ceremony.
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LOS ANGELES — The NFL says it was “aware” that rapper Eminem would kneel during Sunday’s Super Bowl LVI halftime show and did not try to stop him — despite reports saying otherwise.
The 49-year-old rapper — who took the stage at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood with hip-hop heavyweights Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, Kendrick Lamar and 50 Cent — performed his 2002 hit “Lose Yourself” during the fast-moving concert. And as Dre played piano next to him, Eminem concluded his performance by taking a knee on the elaborate stage. He put his right hand on his head and looked downward.
The Grammy and Oscar winner appeared to be paying tribute to former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, though he has not yet publicly commented on the stance. However, he certainly got people talking about the viral moment during the globally watched broadcast.
The stance has become a potent symbol of protest in professional sports since Kaepernick knelt during the national anthem in the 2016 season to protest police brutality and social injustice.
After Sunday’s dramatic gesture, social media lighted up with reports that the NFL tried to stop Eminem from kneeling. However, the organization confirmed that it knew about Eminem’s plans all along.
“We watched all elements of the show during multiple rehearsals this week and were aware that Eminem was going to do that,” league spokesman Brian McCarthy told the Associated Press.
From combined wire services
