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Joshua Malina doesn’t think Whoopi Goldberg is anti-Semitic — especially not compared to Mel Gibson.
“To me, there is a bad person who is a Jew hater, and then there’s Whoopi Goldberg, who misspoke or needed to clarify or educate or discuss,” the “Scandal” alum, 56, exclusively tells Page Six.
“She’s getting a two-week suspension [from ‘The View’], and he [Gibson], every time I turn on my computer, he’s starring in a new movie. Apparently he’s potentially going to direct ‘Lethal Weapon 5.’ Let’s keep our focus on the worst of it. I find it appalling.”
Goldberg came under fire when she insisted on “The View” last Monday that the Holocaust was “not about race” but “about man’s inhumanity to man.” The “Sister Act” star, 66, subsequently apologized on social media and on the ABC talk show, where she spoke with Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt before her suspension.
Gibson, for his part, has a history of making anti-Semitic, racist and homophobic comments as far back as the 1990s. The “Braveheart” star, also 66, most infamously opined to a police officer during a 2006 DUI stop that “Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world.” He later apologized and blamed the remark on alcohol.
Malina, who co-hosts a podcast with Rabbi Shira Stutman called “Chutzpod!,” sees a huge difference between the two transgressions.
“I didn’t hear what Whoopi said and thought, ‘That’s an anti-Semite. That’s someone that doesn’t like Jews.’ I just thought she was off,” he explains.
“My original take was I think there’s a lot of nuance in discussing, ‘What is race?’ I know I swabbed my cheek, sent it to a company and came back 89 percent Ashkenazi Jew, so I know it’s not just a religion, but I know you can convert to Judaism. I’m married to a woman who did convert.”
In December, Malina penned a strongly worded essay for The Atlantic
criticizing Warner Bros. for hiring Gibson to helm the latest installment of the “Lethal Weapon” series.
The former “West Wing” star says he forgot Toby Emmerich, the son of a prominent art dealer who fled Nazi Germany, is the chairman of the movie studio.
“I know him personally a little bit, and he’s a good person,” Malina shares, “and I think he’s in a job where the bottom line is constantly pressing down on you, but if I’d thought about it as I was writing it, I would have directly addressed him and [said], ‘Please reconsider.’
“You have this power to amplify somebody and employ them and give them legitimacy. Because there’s sort of momentum to it where [it’s like], ‘Oh, [Gibson has] just done “Hacksaw Ridge.” He’s back. He’s been forgiven. He’s OK now.’ And the more jobs he gets, the more OK he’s going to seem.”
Malina stars in the new Netflix miniseries “Inventing Anna” about another notorious public figure: fake German heiress Anna Sorokin. He plays a wealthy businessman, with all his scenes taking place on a yacht.
The actor jokes that as soon as he heard “Scandal” boss Shonda Rhimes was working on it, “I read it more closely thinking, ‘Are there any middle-aged Jews in this?’” And it didn’t take long for him to eagerly say yes to the glamorous assignment.
The Scarsdale native acknowledges he’s been very fortunate in his career having friends like Rhimes, 52, and Aaron Sorkin, who cast him in “A Few Good Men” on Broadway right out of Yale University.
“When I get down in the dumps or discouraged, I remember how lucky I’ve been and [remember to] acknowledge it,” he says. “Being grateful is important to me. It’s easy to turn bitter in this career, even with some success. When things turn bad, it’s easy to go, ‘Why did I do this? I’m not getting the breaks, and I know what I can do.’ And so I constantly remind myself how much ahead of the game I am.”
One thing Malina has had to deal with in the last few years is a torrent of anti-Semitism on social media. He has even had the ADL help with some disturbing messages left on his phone.
“Strangers saying the vilest things. ‘They should turn you into a lampshade, put you in an oven.’ People will say anything because they’re anonymous,” he says. “Generally when I say something about Mel Gibson, everyone doubles down and I’m hit with anti-Semitism that kind of proves my point, to be honest.
“I’m used to people [saying], ‘You’re ugly, you’re not talented, you’re terrible.’ I’m actually amused by it, but actual anti-Semitism isn’t so amusing.”
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