Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Annabel Nugent

Kelsey Grammer takes responsibility for infamous Ted Danson fall out: ‘I was drinking a lot’

Kelsey Grammer has revealed the reason that he and Ted Danson didn’t speak for 30 years

Grammer, 69, and Danson, 77, starred opposite one another in the long-running sitcom, playing Dr Frasier Crane and Sam Malone, respectively.

In October, the two actors appeared on a podcast during which Danson apologised to Grammer for an incident that led to them falling out and not speaking for three decades.

Now, however, Grammar has specified that there was no single event that led to them feuding. Instead, he seemed to put them blame on himself.

“It got a little blown out of proportion,” he said. “There really wasn’t an argument. It was at a time in my life when I was actually going through a lot of self-doubt; self-loathing, honestly. It was when I was drinking a lot.

“Ted had just come up and said, ‘You know, I’m kind of mad at you that sometimes you don’t show up ready to go,’” Grammer recalled.

“And I said, ‘Okay, I respect that.’ And that actually was sort of it. Now, maybe what happened for Ted was he stepped away from what might have been a better friendship.”

The actor continued: “Maybe he just had to protect himself. I don’t really know. But, I said, ‘Thanks.’ We were fine with that.”

Kelsey Grammer and Ted Danson, alongside Rhea Perlman, at a ‘Cheers’ reunion at the 2024 Emmys (Getty Images)

Although there was no big fight, the two co-stars ended up not speaking to each other for the better part of 30 years.

It was during a joint appearance last year on their co-star Woody Harrelson’s podcast Where Everybody Knows Your Name that Danson publicly took responsibility for the breakdown of their friendship.

“I feel like I got stuck a little bit with you during the Cheers years,” Danson told Grammer at the time. “I have a memory of getting angry at you once. It’s stuck in both of our memories. But I feel like I missed out on the last 30 years of Kelsey Grammer and I feel like it’s my bad, my doing, and I almost feel like apologising to you.”

(AP1988)

Grammar thanked Danson for his words, stating that he also wished they had “spent some more time together”.

“My love for you has always been as easy as the day,” he said. “As easy as the sunrise.”

Danson led Cheers for 11 seasons from 1982 to 1993, with Grammer joining the cast in season three as Frasier – who he would go on to play in a successful spin-off series.

In 2023, Frasier was rebooted by Paramount+ with a second season arriving in 2024.

In January this year, however, it was announced that the revival has been cancelled.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.