Inside ABC News, some staffers accepted Whoopi Goldberg’s apology while others sought action

By Oliver Darcy, CNN Business

A version of this article first appeared in the “Reliable Sources” newsletter. You can sign up for free right here.

Whoopi Goldberg will start a two-week suspension Wednesday morning.

ABC News president Kim Godwin announced the decision to discipline Goldberg on Tuesday night, one day after “The View” host had ignited controversy for falsely declaring on the daytime talk show that the Holocaust was “not about race.” Goldberg had apologized on Monday night and again (quite forcefully) on Tuesday, but Godwin said she felt the need to act.

In an internal memo to employees, which I obtained and you can read here, Godwin said that such decisions “are never easy, but necessary.” Godwin said it was important that Goldberg “had a chance to address her comments” on Tuesday’s show with Anti-Defamation League president Jonathan Greenblatt. And Godwin said she appreciated Greenblatt accepting Goldberg’s apology.

“But words matter and we must be cognizant of the impact our words have,” Godwin told staffers. To that end, Godwin issued a statement calling Goldberg’s comments “wrong and hurtful.” In the statement, Godwin said she asked Goldberg to “take time to reflect and learn about the impact of her comments.” Godwin’s statement concluded saying, “The entire ABC News organization stands in solidarity with our Jewish colleagues, friends, family, and communities…”

Inside ABC

Godwin’s action capped a day that was, in the words of one ABC News source, “a shitshow.” While Goldberg’s apology had certainly quelled some anger, it did not satisfy everyone, according to conversations I had with sources throughout the day. Pressure had mounted on Godwin to take some form of action. As one ABC News source put it to me, many employees felt “if anyone other than Whoopi made that comment, they’d be fired on the spot.” Former “The View” co-host Meghan McCain wrote a column saying “double standards” were at play.

But not everyone felt such action was warranted. One ABC News source I spoke with earlier said Goldberg’s comments did not come from a place of malice, that she apologized and appeared to learn from her mistake, and that all of that is key when evaluating whether to accept her apology. And The Daily Beast’s Lachlan Cartwright and Justin Baragona reported that Goldberg’s co-hosts are furious with the decision.

Ana Navarro, a CNN political commentator who regularly guest hosts on “The View,” separately told me, prior to the suspension, that Goldberg’s colleagues “know what’s in her heart” and that she’s “not an anti-Semite.” Navarro said, “When you have 5 women, discussing complex topics, in 5 minute segments on unscripted, live TV, sometimes things come out the wrong way. We are human and make mistakes. The difference between us and others is, we acknowledge it and try to correct it. Whoopi clarified and apologized without caveats.”

Others clearly feel the same way. Just looking at my Twitter feed, it seems that most of the commentary is geared at criticizing ABC for the suspension. ProPublica’s Jesse Eisinger put it like this: “We really need to stop punishing people for saying something ill-informed or stupid or mistaken, or a one-off. Especially when they apologize. Save the punishments for the truly despicable or the repeat offenders.”

“You’re never going to make everybody happy”

After the suspension came down, a former TV exec noted to me that Godwin was in a “very tough spot.” On one hand, she had staffers who were upset over the comment. And on the other hand, Goldberg had profusely apologized.

The former exec put it like this: “You do what you think is right. That’s the most important piece. You have to do what you think is right. For your network. For your organization. For your staff. For your viewers. And in this polarized moment, you’re never going to make everybody happy…”

Greenblatt: We need “counsel culture”

Greenblatt appeared on “Don Lemon Tonight” following the suspension for a frank discussion about the situation. Greenblatt said that he couldn’t comment on “ABC News’ internal process” but that he would say he hopes Goldberg uses the next two weeks “for a process of introspection and learning.”

When Lemon brought up how some people believe ABC overreacted by suspending Goldberg, Greenblatt said this: “We sometimes have people in public places who can say clumsy things about race or faith or gender. I don’t believe in cancel culture. I like the phrase that my friend Nick Cannon uses: We need counsel culture. We shouldn’t cancel Whoopi because she made a mistake.” Greenblatt added, “I heard Whoopi say that she’s committed to doing better. I accept that apology with the sincerity with which she delivered it…”

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