Whoopi Goldberg<\/a> at the height of their relationship.<\/p>\nTed\u2019s routine, which took place during a Friars Club roast honouring Whoopi, now 70, drew widespread condemnation after details emerged beyond the private event and remains one of the most controversial moments of the star\u2019s long career.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ted said: \u201cI would like to address this and apologise forever.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know what was in my heart. So, I have no problem talking about this, but I need to and want to apologise for the rest of my life because somebody today can go on the Internet, you’re right, and go, \u2018What the f***? Wow. I feel betrayed. I feel angry and whatever\u2019.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cAnd I did that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nTed explained his blackface performance took place as his relationship with Whoopi was coming to an end and after the pair had unsuccessfully attempted to withdraw from the event.<\/p>\n
\nHe said: \u201cSo my brain was going, \u2018Okay, here is one of the most outrageous, funny, Black women in the world at that point. I’m supposed to be roasting her. And I\u2019m not a stand-up. I can\u2019t run with the bulls\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nHe said he eventually decided to approach the appearance as what he described as \u201cperformance theatre\u201d, before settling on an idea he now regards as fundamentally wrong.<\/p>\n
\nTed said: \u201cI thought I could pull this off… (it was) so arrogant and stupid on my part.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nThe actor recalled the audience reaction inside the room quickly turned against him.<\/p>\n
\nHe said: \u201cTwenty percent of the crowd gets this and thinks it’s pretty cool and gets it. Thirty percent of the crowd gets it and f****** hates it. Fifty percent of the crowd didn’t get it and f****** hated it and hated me.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cAnd I kept going.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nTed also discussed the intense scrutiny he and Whoopi faced as an interracial couple during the early 1990s.<\/p>\n
\nHe said: \u201cIt couldn’t be because they liked each other or saw something in each other.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cIt had to be just pure sex, that’s the only reason for a relationship like this.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nAccording to Ted, criticism intensified almost immediately after the performance.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nWhoopi publicly defended Ted at the time, telling The New York Times in 1993 the controversy \u201chas caused great hurt to a man who doesn\u2019t deserve it\u201d.<\/p>\n
\nHowever, Ted said her support did not lessen his responsibility.<\/p>\n
\nDiscussing the renewed attention the incident received during the Black Lives Matter movement, when clips resurfaced online, Ted admitted: \u201cI was scared.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nHe credited activist and author Heather McGhee with helping him think more deeply about the consequences of his actions after being introduced by actor and activist Jane Fonda.<\/p>\n
\nTed said: \u201cShe wasn\u2019t giving me a pass. She was saying, \u2018This is an opportunity that I hope you take\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nHe added: \u201cI am forever apologetic.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cThe other thing I used to say for the longest time, \u2018I knew what my intention was. My intention was love\u2019 \u2013 it doesn’t matter. Your intentions do not matter. The impact you have on people is what matters.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nLater in the conversation, Ted returned to the subject once more.<\/p>\n
\nHe 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
\nHe added: \u201cSo, I apologise again to anyone who\u2019s listening that I was arrogant enough to think that I had something to offer.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"4 June 2026 Ted Danson has again apologised for his controversial blackface performance. Ted Danson has again apologised for his controversial blackface performance The Cheers and The Good Place actor, 78, revisited the incident during an appearance on Who\u2019s with Me?, a new podcast hosted by comedian and filmmaker W. Kamau Bell, with their conversation […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":244109,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[15539,15540,131,10016,15538,6255,15537,1173],"class_list":{"0":"post-244108","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-make-up","8":"tag-david-dinkins","9":"tag-heather-mcghee","10":"tag-jane-fonda","11":"tag-mary-steenburgen","12":"tag-sarah-chervinsky","13":"tag-ted-danson","14":"tag-w-kamau-bell","15":"tag-whoopi-goldberg"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244108","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=244108"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244108\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/244109"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=244108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=244108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=244108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}