Ted Danson is one of our favorite television and film actors of all time.
He got his first big break playing the lead character Sam Malone on the hit NBC sitcom
Cheers.
He later played Jack Holden in the comedy films Three Men and A Baby and Three Men and
a Little Lady.
Fans also might know him as Dr. John Becker on the CBS sitcom Becker which ran from 1998
to 2004.
He then starred in another CBS offering, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, as D.B. Russell.
You might have also seen him in shows like HBO's Larry David vehicle Curb Your Enthusiasm
and in the second season of FX's Fargo.
But perhaps Danson's most underrated role was playing the afterlife architect Michael
in the NBC off-beat sitcom The Good Place, which ran from 2016 to 2020.
These days, he's portraying the character Neil Bremer in NBC's Mr. Mayor, which is the
latest creation of Tina Fey and Robert Carlock.
Throughout his prolific career, Danson has been nominated for a staggering 18 Primetime
Emmy Awards.
Of those nods, he ended up winning two.
He has also been nominated for a grand total of 11 Golden Globes.
Once again, he ended winning three of those.
Danson also has one Screen Actors Guild Award and One American Comedy Award under his belt.
In 2011, TV Guide ranked him 2nd on their list of the top 25 television stars.
With a career as storied as his, it's hard to believe that it came close to crashing
to a halt because of a short-lived affair that he got involved in during the 90's production
of the film Made In America.
But even though his career was able to recover from that little hiccup, it still ended up
costing him his marriage and nearly $30 million dollars.
Not only that, but his reputation took a major hit as well.
Join Facts Verse as we take a look at Ted Danson's Affair With Whoopi Goldberg – a
fling that reportedly cost him a whole lot more than he was expecting.
Whoopi And Ted's Whirlwind Affair
Over the years, there have been countless scandalous celebrity relationships that have
made waves in the tabloids.
But one of the most notorious affairs that still inspires discussion today is Ted Danson's
affair with Whoopi Goldberg.
In the early 90s, the two rising stars struck up a romance that not only created quite a
bit of controversy in the media but also ultimately led to Danson's 1993 divorce, which after
dealing with court proceedings, cost him a lot more than he bargaining for.
Danson and Goldberg met in 1988 on the Arsenio Hall Show.
After exchanging a few pleasantries and getting acquainted with each other, the two became
close friends.
They maintained this friendship for the next couple of years, but in 1992, Danson and Goldberg's
relationship evolved into something more romantic when they started having an affair while on
the set of the film Made in America.
It's actually not all that uncommon for actors to get pretty cozy with each other when working
on films together.
They are often away from their families, far away in remote locations.
Quite a few illicit romances have started in precisely this way.
But even though Danson seemed to be totally enamored by Goldberg, going as far as saying
that he would have happily 'walked in Whoopi's shadow' for the rest of his life, there was
just one little problem.
At the time, Danson was married to his second wife, Cassandra Coates, so the two clandestine
lovebirds did their best to keep their relationship under wraps.
But it didn't take long for the media to catch wind of their fling, and inevitably Coats
was clued in on her husband's infidelity.
When the tabloids spilled the beans about Ted and Whoopi's romance, they pretty much
had a field day.
The paparazzi ended up capturing the two's entire relationship timeline – from their
budding courtship all the way to Danson's high-profile divorce and he and Whoopi's eventual
breakup.
After 18 years of matrimony, Coates finally decided enough was enough and filed for divorce
from Danson shortly after finding out about her husband's romantic involvement with Goldberg.
The affair was obviously the straw that broke the camel's back, so to speak.
Reportedly, the couple had already been going through some hard times, and there were numerous
other factors that contributed to Danson and Coate's relationship failing.
But clearly, cheating is never something that contributes to a happy, healthy relationship.
Coates became paralyzed after having a stroke while giving birth to her and Danson's first
daughter Kate.
Even though Danson faithfully remained by her side as she slowly but surely learned
how to walk again, the trauma inflicted by that stroke apparently created a large rift
between the two of them.
Danson told Closer that at the root of his and his ex-wife's marital problems was a 'massive
lack of trust'.
He further told the outlet that they found it very difficult to adjust to the fact that
they were no longer the same people they were before Coates had her life-changing medical
crisis.
So, by the time that Coates learned of her husband's affair, she had already pretty much
made up her mind about the trajectory of their marriage and used it as the jumping-off point
to finally pull the cord on their marriage.
Coates would receive a big payout during that nasty divorce.
When all was said and done, she got to walk away not only with the couple's two kids but
also an eye-watering $30 million in the divorce settlement – making it one of the costlier
celebrity divorces in history.
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Rumors Spread That Ted And Whoopi Were Planning A Wedding
Pretty much as soon as the news broke that Danson and Coates were getting divorced, rumors
started flying that Ted and Whoopi were planning to get married.
But these rumors were squashed when it was reported that Danson had dumped Goldberg under
pressure from his parents.
While some relationships run of steam faster than others, it was reportedly outside pressure
from Danson's own family that brought about the end of he and Whoopi's romance.
It's speculated that Ted's parents saw their son's relationship with the Sister Act actresses
as merely a symptom of some kind of mid-life crisis – and apparently, Ted eventually
agreed with them!
Ted later told the media that he 'went nuts', hurt his children, and hurt his wife.
But he added that he was doing the best that he could do at that time.
Ted Danson's Controversial Blackface Stunt
Danson and Goldberg weren't afraid of pushing boundaries when they were together – even
if that meant making people quite angry.
This was precisely what happened the time that Danson showed up at a roast for Whoopi
at the New York Friar's Club wearing blackface while making a ton of highly offensive jokes.
Whoopi, however, defended Danson, stating that she even wrote some of his routine herself.
She even said that It took a lot of courage for Ted to come out in blackface in front
of 3,000 people, adding that she didn't care if people didn't like it because she did.
A few people in attendance at that event that found Danson's antics to be in poor taste
were then-Mayor of New York David Dinkins, as well as Shari Belafonte, Anita Baker, and
Montel Williams.
Danson reportedly made quite a few unsavory remarks about his sex life with Whoopi and
even used the n-word more than a dozen times.
Montel Williams walked out in the middle of the set and later compared the event to a
'meeting of Klan'.
Mayor Dinkins said that he felt embarrassed for Whoopi as well as for the audience.
Revisiting the topic years later in 2019, however, Goldberg doesn't seem to have changed
her mind about the events that transpired that evening.
In fact, she said that her only regret was that none of her comedian friends were in
attendance.
Among those that she wishes could have been there that night were Billy Crystal and Robin
Williams.
Ted Danson's Third Marriage With Mary Steenburgen
On November 5, 1993, Danson and Goldberg put out a statement confirming that they had ended
their short-lived relationship.
A year later, however, Ted met actress Mary Steenburgen on a five-hour canoe ride while
filming what would be the blockbuster flop 1994 film Pontiac Film.
Ted and Mary had both already been through rocky romances before, and they had all but
given up on love, but when they met each other paddling down California's Big River, sparks
flew.
Mary had been a huge fan of Cheers, and watching that program reportedly lifted her spirits
when she was going through her own tumultuous divorce from actor Malcolm McDowell.
After a brief courtship, Denson and Steenburgen got married on October 7, 1995.
Danson became stepfather to Mary's two children, Lilly and Charlie, whom she had in her previous
marriage.
Steenburgen told Closer that she and Ted do occasionally clash, and she further admitted
that she sometimes gets jealous whenever someone that recognizes him from TV flirts with him
at the bar.
But overall, she says that Ted is nothing short of a loving husband.
When such things happen, he apparently is always very quick to inform his fans that
he is happily married.
What makes their marriage such a strong one is the fact that they share a tremendous amount
of trust in each other.
After 26 years of marriage, Ted and Mary are still happily married – and their faith
in each other has never faltered.
These days, Danson says that family is the most important thing in his life.
Even though his work in show business often requires him to travel, he says that he much
prefers being at home with his three granddaughters.
When asked if he has any regrets, Danson says that he wouldn't go back and change anything.
Even though he freely admits that he has made some cringe-worthy mistakes in the past, he
also knows that everything that he has been through has led him to the happy, satisfying
life he has today.
At 73, he says that he finally realizes that it's okay to be imperfect – and he's perfectly
okay with that.
Did you already know about Ted Danson's infamous affair with Whoopi Goldberg?
And, what's your favorite role that Ted Danson has done in the 46 years that he's been in
the entertainment industry?
Let us know in the comments section down below.
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