{"id":410192,"date":"2026-06-05T12:39:36","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T12:39:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/?p=410192"},"modified":"2026-06-05T12:39:36","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T12:39:36","slug":"ted-danson-apologizes-for-blackface-stunt-at-then-girlfriend-whoopi-goldbergs-1993-roast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/2026\/06\/05\/ted-danson-apologizes-for-blackface-stunt-at-then-girlfriend-whoopi-goldbergs-1993-roast\/","title":{"rendered":"Ted Danson apologizes for blackface stunt at then-girlfriend Whoopi Goldberg\u2019s 1993 roast"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Ted Danson vows he will \u201capologize forever\u201d for his 1993 blackface stunt at his then-girlfriend Whoopi Goldberg\u2019s roast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u201cCheers\u201d alum regretfully reflected on the incident during his June 3 appearance on W. Kamau Bell\u2019s\u00a0\u201cWho\u2019s With Me?\u201d podcast, praising Goldberg for her handling of the incident before owning up to his \u201carrogant\u201d mistake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPoor Whoopi Goldberg has had to defend me over the years, sweetly and gracefully,\u201d he began. \u201cSo the last thing she probably wants to do is be put in this position again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI would like to address this and apologize forever. I know what was in my heart, so I have no problem talking about this. But I need to and want to apologize for the rest of my life because somebody today can go on the internet and go, \u2018What the f\u2013k? Wow, I feel betrayed, I feel angry.\u2019 And I did that,\u201d Danson said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Ted Danson will \u201capologize forever\u201d for the blackface stunt he pulled at his then-girlfriend Whoopi Goldberg\u2019s 1993 roast, the actor said during his Wednesday appearance on W. Kamau Bell\u2019s \u201cWho\u2019s With Me?\u201d podcast (pictured above).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
\u201cI know what was in my heart, so I have no problem talking about this. But I need to and want to apologize for the rest of my life,\u201d Danson said.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

At the time, his relationship with Goldberg was slowly being put on ice, and while they tried to get out of the roast, the Friars Club (which hosted the roast) threatened to sue them if they dropped out because they \u201chad sold so many tickets.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The actor then explained that his intention was to pull an over-the-top stunt in order to keep up with the comics in the room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo my brain was going, \u2018OK, here is one of the most outrageous, funny Black women in the world, at that point. And I\u2019m supposed to be roasting her and I\u2019m not a stand-up, I can\u2019t run with the bulls. I\u2019m an actor at best,\u2019\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo I was like, \u2018God, what am I gonna do?\u2019 And then I thought, \u2018Well I can do performance theater.’\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
\u201cI looked at all these tapes and it\u2019s like, well if I were Black, I could say all these outrageous things,\u201d he explained, adding that he felt the stunt gave him \u201clicense.\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI looked at all these tapes and it\u2019s like, well if I were Black, I could say all these outrageous things. I\u2019m not; then my mind went, I will do it in blackface and that will be funny or not, but it will be like, \u2018I have license now,’\u201d Danson continued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Danson noted how during this time, he and the \u201cColor Purple\u201d star were constantly getting negative comments in the press over their interracial relationship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt couldn\u2019t be because they liked each other or saw something in each other \u2026 It had to be just pure sex, that\u2019s the only reason for a relationship like this,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He specifically \u201clatched on to\u201d Goldberg\u2019s remarks that she didn\u2019t care about people using the n-word, because you didn\u2019t need \u201cnasty language\u201d to be racist.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Danson also noted how, at the time, he and Goldberg (seen above at the \u201cMade in America\u201d premiere) were plagued with negative comments about their interracial relationship.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
When Goldberg said she didn\u2019t care if people used the n-word, he \u201clatched on to\u201d the sentiment.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt had a real f\u2014ing edge to it,\u201d he recalled of the bit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI thought I could pull this off. I thought that, there\u2019s no one been whiter than me in the world, that this white guy could have something valuable to say about race and race relations was so stupid and entitled. I thought, \u2018Oh, I can be Robin Williams. I can step up, and I can pull this off. I know it\u2019s bold, but I can pull this off.\u2019 And that was so arrogant and stupid on my part.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But despite working \u201cfor months\u201d on the bit, things quickly went left \u201cwithin 20 seconds\u201d of his performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was like I stuck my finger in a light socket,\u201d he recalled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
\u201cI thought that, there\u2019s no one been whiter than me in the world, that this white guy could have something valuable to say about race and race relations was so stupid and entitled,\u201d Danson (seen above with Goldberg at the New York Friars Club) said.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Goldberg, at the time, defended Danson\u2019s blackface stunt and even admitted to writing most of the actor\u2019s material for the roast.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

At the time, Goldberg defended Danson\u2019s blackface bit after it received public backlash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe were not trying to be politically correct. We were trying to be funny for ourselves,\u201d Goldberg said in a 1993 press conference,\u00a0per Deseret News. She also admitted to writing most of Danson\u2019s jokes and hiring the artist who painted him in blackface.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u201cView\u201d co-host also read a statement from Danson that read: \u201cThere was too much love behind my words to ever be misconstrued as racist.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ted Danson vows he will \u201capologize forever\u201d for his 1993 blackface stunt at his then-girlfriend Whoopi Goldberg\u2019s roast. The \u201cCheers\u201d alum regretfully reflected on the incident during his June 3 appearance on W. Kamau Bell\u2019s\u00a0\u201cWho\u2019s With Me?\u201d podcast, praising Goldberg for her handling of the incident before owning up to his \u201carrogant\u201d mistake. \u201cPoor Whoopi […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-410192","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-whmx"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/410192","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=410192"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/410192\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":410203,"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/410192\/revisions\/410203"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=410192"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=410192"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=410192"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}