Ted Danson Reflects on 1993 Blackface Roast, Offers Fresh Apology

Ted Danson has revisited one of the most contentious moments of his career, speaking candidly about his decision to perform in blackface during a 1993 roast of Whoopi Goldberg at New York's Friars Club.

The 78-year-old appeared on the podcast Who's With Me? with W. Kamau Bell to discuss the incident. He explained that both he and Goldberg initially tried to back out of the roast, but the event had sold "so many tickets" that they decided to proceed despite their relationship coming to an end at the time.

"I need to and want to apologize for the rest of my life because somebody today can go on the internet and go, 'What the f–k? Wow, I feel betrayed, I feel angry.' And I did that," Danson reflected on the lasting consequences of his choice.

He walked through his thought process leading up to the performance, describing how he struggled with material while preparing to roast one of comedy's boldest voices. "So my brain was going, OK, here is one of the most outrageous, funny Black women in the world. And I'm supposed to be roasting her and I'm not a stand-up, I can't run with the bulls," he recounted. "And then I thought, 'Well I can do performance theater.' And I looked at all these tapes and it's like, well if I were Black, I could say all these outrageous things."

The actor acknowledged the fundamental flaw in that reasoning. "I thought I could pull this off," he said, adding that he now recognizes how "arrogant and stupid" it was to believe "a white guy could have something valuable to say about race and race relations."

Danson described the immediate realization that he had made a serious error. "Within 20 seconds, I was like, 'I stuck my finger in a light socket,'" he admitted. He had believed he was attempting satire on interracial relationships while being edgy, but the execution proved deeply problematic.

Emphasizing what he has learned, Danson stated: "Your intentions do not matter. The impact you have on people is what matters. And if you haven't thought through that, then you need to. I thought I could run with the big boys, and I couldn't. And it was stupid and it was not my place, and it was wrong and it was hurtful."

He extended his apology broadly, saying: "So I apologize again to anyone who's listening, that I was arrogant enough to think that I had something to offer."

Danson also acknowledged Goldberg's role in managing the fallout over the years. "Poor Whoopi Goldberg has had to defend me over the years, sweetly and gracefully. So the last thing she probably wants to do is be put in this position again," he noted.

In the same conversation, Danson also opened up about a recent health scare that he said had "humbled" him.