Ted Danson Vows to Apologize Forever for 1993 Blackface Roast

3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Jun 4

Ted Danson said on W. Kamau Bell’s podcast that he wants to “apologize forever” for performing in blackface at Whoopi Goldberg’s 1993 Friars Club roast, saying the act was wrong and hurtful regardless of his intent.
1993 tabloid attacks on his interracial relationship with Goldberg helped shape the routine, which Danson said he wrongly framed as satire on race and believed he could pull off despite not being a stand-up comic.
20 seconds into the performance, Danson said he realized it had gone badly; he estimated about 20% of the crowd liked it, 30% understood it and hated it, and the rest simply hated both the act and him.
Black Lives Matter-era backlash revived the incident years later, costing him some corporate sponsorships and reinforcing his view that impact matters more than intention.
More than 30 years later, Danson said the episode still demands public accountability because anyone can find it online and feel “betrayed” or angry.