In the annals of Hollywood scandals, few stories combine infidelity, massive financial settlements, and racial controversy quite like the saga of Ted Danson’s relationship with Whoopi Goldberg.
Messy, Messy
What began as a friendship between two entertainers ultimately culminated in what Marie Claire considers one of the most expensive celebrity divorces of the 1990s and a racially charged incident that shocked the entertainment industry.
Ted Danson married producer Cassandra “Casey” Coates in 1977, five years before his career-defining role on Cheers would make him a household name.
Their marriage seemed solid until tragedy struck in 1979.
According to Good Housekeeping, while giving birth to their first daughter Kate, Coates suffered a massive stroke that left her paralyzed on her left side. The crisis would forever alter the trajectory of their relationship.
Danson spent three weeks sleeping on the hospital floor during his wife’s recovery, demonstrating what appeared to be unwavering devotion. However, the stroke’s aftermath created unexpected psychological fractures in their marriage.
“There was a huge rift between us — a massive lack of trust. We were adjusting to the fact that we weren’t the same people we were before it happened,” the actor said to People at the time.
In 1988, Danson met Whoopi Goldberg on “The Arsenio Hall Show,” and they maintained a platonic friendship for several years. However, when they were cast together in the 1993 film Made in America, their relationship crossed into romantic territory. Despite Danson’s 16-year marriage to Coates, he and Goldberg began a secret affair during filming, Showbiz Cheatsheet reports.
The relationship couldn’t remain hidden for long. When news of the affair broke, it created a media firestorm that dominated tabloid headlines. For Coates, already dealing with the long-term effects of her stroke and the strain it had placed on their marriage, the infidelity was the final breaking point.
Coates promptly filed for divorce, and the settlement became legendary in Hollywood circles. Danson was ordered to pay $30 million — approximately $60 million in today’s money when adjusted for inflation. The astronomical figure made it one of the costliest celebrity divorces in history at the time. Beyond the financial devastation, Coates also gained custody of their two daughters, leaving Danson to rebuild both his personal life and his finances.
Just as it seemed the scandal might be dying down, Danson made a decision that would haunt his reputation for years to come.
In October 1993, at a Friars Club roast honoring Goldberg, Danson appeared in blackface and delivered a routine filled with racial slurs and offensive stereotypes. According to witnesses, he used the N-word more than a dozen times and even ate watermelon on stage.
The performance was met with visible discomfort from the audience, which included prominent Black celebrities like Mayor David Dinkins and Halle Berry. Talk show host Montel Williams walked out, later comparing the event to a Ku Klux Klan rally.
Mayor Dinkins described feeling “embarrassed for Whoopi and the audience,” according to the Washington Post.
Goldberg would later defend Danson, revealing she had helped write the material and arranged for the makeup artist. However, her support couldn’t shield him from the national outrage that followed. The incident sparked widespread condemnation and significantly damaged Danson’s public image.
The combination of his costly divorce and the blackface controversy marked a low point in Danson’s career.
While he would eventually recover professionally with roles in shows like “Becker” and “The Good Place” and currently has an estimated net worth of $80 million, the events of 1993 remain the low-water point for his reputation and public image.
5ahrcw