Ted Danson profusely apologises 33 years after appearing in blackface at Whoopi Goldberg roast

Ted Danson has spoken out about the 1993 roast of Whoopi Goldberg in which he came under fire for appearing in blackface.

On a new episode of the Who’s With Me? with W. Kamau Bell podcast, Danson said, 33 years after the incident, “I need to and want to apologise for the rest of my life”.

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Danson apologised to Goldberg for bringing the topic back up, and thanked her for the way she handled the situation, saying that she has “had to defend me over the years sweetly and gracefully”.

At the time, Goldberg and Danson were in a relationship which began as an extramarital affair whilst Danson was married to Cassandra Coates.

His speech at the event included jokes about their sex life and racial slurs, and drew backlash from the fans and major public figures, including the Mayor of New York City at the time, David Dinkins.

“I would like to address this and apologise forever,” Danson said.

“I 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 and go, ‘what the f---?’”

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He explained that he and Goldberg’s relationship was ending and that they had asked the Friar Club hosting the roast if he could get out of it, but they had threatened to sue because “so many tickets” had already been sold.

Danson went on to explain what went into his decision to perform in blackface, being clear to add that he wasn’t trying to make any excuses.

“My brain was going, ’okay, here is one of the most outrageous, funny, black women in the world at that point,” he said.

“And I’m supposed to be roasting her, and I’m not a stand-up, I can’t run with the bulls. I am an actor at best.”

After giving it some thought, Danson figured his best shot at success was to do “performance theatre,” which led him to decide to perform in blackface.

“I used to say for the longest time, ‘I knew what my intention was, my intention was love’. It doesn’t matter. Your intentions do not matter,” he said.

“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, I couldn’t.

“And it was stupid and it was not my place and it was wrong, and it was hurtful.”