Whoopi Goldberg defends Ted Danson's blackface act at Friars Club roast

Jet, Oct 25, 1993

Whoopi Goldberg recently scolded critics who attacked her boyfriend, former "Cheers" star Ted Danson, as racist for appearing in blackface at a Friars Club roast in her honor, saying they should have expected tasteless, vulgar humor.

To diffuse the firestorm of controversy generated by Ted Danson's appearance in blackface at the Friars Club roasting of her, Goldberg is urging the public to remember that those roasts are traditionally x-rated affairs with no-holds barred comments.

Ms. Goldberg told Jet: "Many people who come to the roast were unfamiliar with the Friars Club. I thought everyone knew the definition of a roast. You char that person. You talk about them, their mother, father, etc. Everything is fair game. Apparently there were people who were uncomfortable with what to expect. Some of them have not been to a roast before."

She said that she and Danson, who have been the subjects of much media speculation because they are often seen together, decided to play on some of the nasty letters and comments their relationship has elicited. "We've gotten a lot of hate mail. He's been called a |nigger lover' and people have said that if we had a kid they hoped he or she died. We decided to go over the top with it. If you think he's a nigger lover, here he is in blackface. People took offense about it."

She pointed out that she helped write much of the material he used during the roasting and she also helped secure the make-up artist who painted his face.

"People weren't used to getting jokes about me. I helped plan it."

She is puzzled at people calling Danson a racist. "How can you say on one hand that Ted and I are having a relationship and then call him a racist?"

"Danson," she said, "is hurt and upset that people are taking the whole matter in such a negative way. He issued a statement that read: "Words by themselves are not racist. Racism is a matter of intent. My intent was to amuse my dear friend, Whoopi, in what I thought was the privacy of the Friars Club. Those people who

Whoopi: |I Am No Saint' are making this public and a matter of the press are, I'm afraid, turning this into a matter of racism. If those people who were in the room and there for the first time and not aware of the Friars Club tradition of raucous and over the top humor; if those people were offended, I encourage them to call me personally so we can have a conversation. There was too much love behind my words to ever be construed as racist."

Whoopi said she has received hate mail for almost 10 years because of her views on many subjects such as AIDS and abortion. The number has not increased because of her friendship with Danson, she said. "People have said how can you go out with a White man? All this (hate mail) is new to him. And my concern is how it will affect his relationship with his audience."

Goldberg said the American public has known for some time that she is no saint. "I'm the woman who made m.f. a household word. I am no saint. I've always been known as the other side of tasteful."

She theorized that some of the criticism is coming from people "who are trying to get back at Ted's and my relationship. I told him that if he was going to be in a friendship with me he would have to expect this (hate mail)."

She is most upset with the Friars Club for apologizing for the evening's activities. "The x-rated stuff is a Friars Club tradition. Should the roasters have to tiptoe around me because I'm a Black woman?"

She fears that people will see the picture of Danson (in blackface) and "make judgments simply on the picture and not understand the whole story. And that," she said, "is upsetting!"

But Danson's routine fell short of comical for many of those attending the annual closed-door affair in the grand ballroom of the New York Hilton. Celebrities on hand who stared in disbelief when Danson entered in blackface included dais guest Jasmine Guy, Sugar Ray Leonard, Shari Belafonte, Vanessa Williams, Malcolm-Jamal Warner, Anita Baker, Beverly Johnson and Mr. T. Others in attendance included Michael Douglas, Robert Guillaume and talk show host Montel Williams, who stormed out of the ceremony.

Danson, who starred opposite Goldberg in Made In America, cut loose with a barrage of sexual jokes, most of which dealt with Black stereotypes, and he used the term "nigger" more than a dozen times during the evening. He also spoke graphically about his sex life with Goldberg and her private parts.

According to Danson, when he took Goldberg home to meet his parents in June 1992, she "fitted right in" because she did the dishes and the laundry. He went on to describe their wild sexual antics upstairs and said his concerned mother came to the door distressed over the possibility of their having children.

After his quick departure, talk show host Williams immediately sent a telegram announcing his resignation from the exclusive male-only club. He wrote, "I was confused as to whether or not I was at a Friars event or at a rally for the KKK and Aryan Nation."

Williams added, "When Ted made the jokes about the racially mixed kids, and everyone knows my wife is White and just gave birth to our child, I could see my wife start to cry. If that's what Whoopi and Ted find funny in their bedroom, it's not funny to the outside world."