{"id":2382040,"date":"2026-04-20T22:40:20","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T22:40:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2382040"},"modified":"2026-04-20T22:40:20","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T22:40:20","slug":"bill-clinton-grilled-ted-danson-about-his-intentions-when-he-started-dating-mary-steenburgen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/bill-clinton-grilled-ted-danson-about-his-intentions-when-he-started-dating-mary-steenburgen\/","title":{"rendered":"Bill Clinton grilled Ted Danson about his intentions when he started dating Mary Steenburgen"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div data-article-body=\"true\">\n<h3 class=\"mb-4 text-lg font-bold\">Key Points<\/h3>\n<ul class=\"mb-4\">\n<li class=\"ml-4 list-disc\">\n<div class=\"\">\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Mary Steenburgen took Ted Danson to the White House shortly after they started dating.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"ml-4 list-disc\">\n<div class=\"\">\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">President Bill Clinton grilled Danson about his intentions.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"ml-4 list-disc\">\n<div class=\"\">\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Clinton contends that it was an &#8220;effective&#8221; strategy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Meeting the friends of your new girlfriend always comes with a bit of pressure, so imagine what it would be like if the president of the United States is the one grilling you about your intentions. Well, welcome to <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/ew.com\/person\/ted-danson\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Ted Danson;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;Ted Danson&quot;}\" class=\"link \">Ted Danson<\/a>&#8216;s reality.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The <em>Cheers<\/em> star hosted a conversation with Bill and Hillary Clinton over the weekend at Philadelphia&#8217;s History Talks, and Danson used this as an opportunity to ask former President Clinton about his role in Danson and wife <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/ew.com\/person\/mary-steenburgen\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Mary Steenburgen;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;Mary Steenburgen&quot;}\" class=\"link \">Mary Steenburgen<\/a>&#8216;s relationship.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cOne of the first things she did was take me to meet her dear friends in the White House,&#8221; Danson said of Steenburgen, who he met on the set of 1994&#8217;s <em>Pontiac Moon<\/em>. &#8220;Bill \u2014 Mr. President \u2014 took me around the corner, and there were three Secret Service agents behind him, all of them looking at me. The president asked me what my intentions were.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><button aria-label=\"View larger image\" class=\"group absolute bottom-0 size-full\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\"><span class=\"absolute bottom-3 right-3 rounded-full bg-white p-3 opacity-100 shadow-elevation-3 transition-opacity duration-300 group-hover:block group-hover:opacity-100 md:p-[17px] lg:bottom-6 lg:right-6 lg:bg-white\/90 lg:p-5 lg:opacity-0 lg:shadow-none\"><svg viewbox=\"0 0 22 22\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"size-4 lg:size-6\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\"><path d=\"M12.372.92c0-.506.41-.916.915-.916L21 0l-.004 7.712a.917.917 0 0 1-1.832 0V3.183l-6.827 6.828-1.349-1.348 6.828-6.828h-4.529a.915.915 0 0 1-.915-.915M1.835 17.816l6.828-6.828 1.349 1.349-6.829 6.827h4.529a.915.915 0 0 1 0 1.831L0 21l.004-7.713a.916.916 0 0 1 1.831 0z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/button><dialog aria-label=\"Modal Dialog\" aria-modal=\"true\" class=\"fixed bottom-0 left-0 right-0 top-0 z-4 size-full max-h-none max-w-none bg-white hidden\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5\">\n<p><i>Mary Steenburgen and Ted Danson on &#8216;A Man on the Inside&#8217;<br \/>Credit: Colleen E. Hayes\/Netflix<\/i><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Danson then asked his first question of the panel: &#8220;Mr. President, do you think that was fair?\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Clinton fired back, \u201cNo, but it was effective&#8230; I didn&#8217;t think I had to be fair when it came to Mary. I wanted her to be happy. And I thought, as it turned out, you&#8217;d be the best thing that ever happened to her.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Danson had already been married two times before Steenburgen, and he was coming off of his highly publicized relationship with Whoopi Goldberg. And Steenburgen was just a few years removed from her divorce from actor Malcolm McDowell.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><strong><em>Get your daily dose of entertainment news, celebrity updates, and what to watch with our\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/ew.com\/ew-dispatch-newsletter-11812417\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:EW Dispatch newsletter;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;EW Dispatch newsletter&quot;}\" class=\"link \"><strong><em>EW Dispatch newsletter<\/em><\/strong><\/a><strong><em>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The two married in 1995, but Steenburgen previously revealed that she initially worried that Danson would be too similar to his iconic ladies man character from<em> Cheers<\/em>. &#8220;I don&#8217;t know how I was this stupid, but I thought that you were a little bit like Sam Malone,&#8221; <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/ew.com\/mary-steenburgen-assumed-ted-danson-was-slick-like-cheers-character-8753426\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:she told Danson;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;she told Danson&quot;}\" class=\"link \">she told Danson<\/a> on his podcast. &#8220;But my joke is that slick guys don&#8217;t say &#8216;gosharoonie&#8217; after making love.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Danson and Steenburgen&#8217;s relationship has made its way onto television a few times. They played fictional versions of themselves on <em>Curb Your Enthusiasm<\/em>, on which they got divorced and Danson started dating Larry David&#8217;s wife Cheryl (Cheryl Hines). More recently, Steenburgen joined the cast of Netflix&#8217;s <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/ew.com\/ted-danson-mary-steenburgen-a-man-on-the-inside-first-look-11794917\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:A Man on the Inside;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;A Man on the Inside&quot;}\" class=\"link \"><em>A Man on the Inside<\/em><\/a> as Danson&#8217;s love interest.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Read the original article on <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/ew.com\/bill-clinton-grilled-ted-danson-about-his-intentions-when-he-started-dating-mary-steenburgen-11954486\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Entertainment Weekly;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;Entertainment Weekly&quot;}\" class=\"link \">Entertainment Weekly<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Key Points Mary Steenburgen took Ted Danson to the White House shortly after they started dating. President Bill Clinton grilled Danson about his intentions. Clinton contends that it was an &#8220;effective&#8221; strategy. Meeting the friends of your new girlfriend always comes with a bit of pressure, so imagine what it would be like if the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2382041,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25177],"tags":[363287,464044,348449,441278,348479,22893],"class_list":["post-2382040","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-celebrities","tag-hillary-clinton","tag-intentions","tag-mary-steenburgen","tag-president-bill-clinton","tag-ted-danson","tag-white-house"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Bill-Clinton-grilled-Ted-Danson-about-his-intentions-when-he.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2382040","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2382040"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2382040\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2382042,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2382040\/revisions\/2382042"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2382041"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2382040"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2382040"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2382040"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}