Ted Danson is once again confronting one of the most controversial moments of his career, saying he intends to keep apologizing for his 1993 blackface performance at a Friars Club roast honoring then-girlfriend Whoopi Goldberg<\/a>.<\/p>\n Appearing on W. Kamau Bell\u2019s Who\u2019s With Me?<\/em> podcast<\/a>, the Cheers<\/em> and The Good Place<\/em> star reflected on the roast that shocked audiences at the time and continues to generate discussion more than 30 years later. \u201cI need to and want to apologize for the rest of my life,\u201d Danson said at around the 38:30 mark of the podcast. \u201cBecause somebody today can go on the internet and go, \u2018What the f*ck? Wow, I feel betrayed, I feel angry.\u2019 And I did that.\u201d<\/p>\n The incident took place during a New York Friars Club charity roast for Goldberg, whom Danson was dating at the time. During the event, he appeared in blackface makeup and delivered a routine filled with racial slurs and explicit jokes about the couple\u2019s relationship.<\/p>\n COMPLEX SHOP:<\/b> Shop the brands you love, anytime and anywhere. Uncover what’s next. Buy. Collect. Obsess.<\/a><\/p>\n The performance drew immediate criticism from attendees, including former New York City Mayor David Dinkins and television personality Montel Williams, who famously walked out and later resigned from the Friars Club in protest.<\/p>\n Danson told Bell that he and Goldberg had hoped to avoid the roast altogether because their relationship was nearing its end, but backing out wasn\u2019t an option after tickets had already been sold. Looking for a way to handle the assignment, he convinced himself he had found a creative solution.<\/p>\n \u201cMy brain was going, OK, here is one of the most outrageous, funny Black women in the world,\u201d he recalled. \u201cAnd I\u2019m supposed to be roasting her, and I\u2019m not a stand-up.\u201d<\/p>\n That line of thinking eventually led him to what he now describes as a disastrous decision. \u201cThen 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,\u2019\u201d Danson said. \u201cI thought I could pull this off.\u201d<\/p>\n Instead, he said, reality hit almost immediately. \u201cWithin 20 seconds, I was like, \u2018I stuck my finger in a light socket,\u2019\u201d Danson recalled. \u201cI thought I was doing a satire on mixed relationships, and I thought I was being edgy.\u201d<\/p>\n The actor said he spent years telling himself that his intentions mattered but has since abandoned that justification. \u201cYour intentions do not matter. The impact you have on people is what matters,\u201d he said. \u201cI thought I could run with the big boys, and I couldn\u2019t. And it was stupid, and it was not my place, and it was wrong, and it was hurtful.\u201d<\/p>\n Danson also acknowledged the burden the controversy placed on Goldberg, who publicly defended him at the time and revealed that she had helped write much of the material. \u201cPoor Whoopi Goldberg has had to defend me over the years, sweetly and gracefully,\u201d he said. \u201cSo, the last thing she probably wants to do is be put in this position again.\u201d<\/p>\n Goldberg’s position has remained consistent. In the aftermath of the roast, she told reporters, \u201cWe were not trying to be politically correct. We were trying to be funny for ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n For Danson, however, the focus is no longer on explaining what happened but on accepting responsibility for it.<\/p>\n As he told Bell, \u201cI apologize again to anyone who\u2019s listening that I was arrogant enough to think that I had something to offer.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/a> Joe Rogan Calls Comics Blasting Kevin Hart Roast \u2018Traitors\u2019 to Comedy<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n <\/a> Pastor Jamal Bryant Calls Kevin Hart Roast \u2018Disrespect Dressed as Jokes\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n <\/a> Tony Hinchcliffe\u2019s Sheryl Underwood Joke Sparks Backlash at Kevin Hart Roast<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Stephen A. Smith on Kevin Hart\u2019s Joke About the ESPN Host Hating Black People: \u2018Stung Like Hell\u2019<\/a><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n ‘Landman’ Season 3 Heads Back to North Texas\u2014and Billy Bob Thornton Teases Chaos<\/a><\/i><\/b><\/p>\nRelated News<\/h3>\n
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