The seven most racist people who have ever been on Johnny Carson. Johnny Carson was the undisputed king of late night TV for 30 years. Bringing America’s biggest stars into people’s living rooms across the country with his trademark charm, quick wit, and interview style that made it look easy. Carson made a cultural touchstone that defined American entertainment for a generation from his desk at NBC.

A show where famous people let down their guard and showed more real sides of themselves than anywhere else on TV. But Carson’s honest portrayal of celebrities sometimes led to upsetting truths about the most beloved stars in America. This was especially true as the country’s views on race changed greatly during his 30-year tenure.

 Because the Tonight Show ran for longer and had a more laid-back vibe, prejudices were sometimes shown that were hidden in more tightly controlled TV appearances. This created a record of casual racism that many fans have easily forgotten. A former NBC official who worked closely with Johnny said that he worked at the intersection of old and new Hollywood in the 1970s and 1980s with the Tonight Show.

 He was open to the big stars who came up during a time when racist jokes and attitudes were common in theater. But he also had to deal with an America that was changing and where those same views were seen as more and more harmful and unacceptable. This tension made things tricky on air as Carson tried to find a balance between respect for industry legends and growing knowledge of racial issues.

 His changing views on race, which were mostly progressive for the time but still limited by the standards of later decades, affected how he dealt with guests whose views ranged from openly racist to subtly biased. Margaret Collins, a television expert, said that Carson was stuck between two worlds. Getting rid of every star with racist views wasn’t an option.

 Half of Hollywood’s biggest stars from the 1960s and 1970s would have been out because of that. But old video shows that he became less comfortable with some guests over time, which led to small but noticeable changes in how he dealt with their appearances. Today, we’re going to look at seven of Johnny Carson’s most controversial black guests.

 The Tonight Show appearances of entertainment legends that showed prejudices that were different from how they seemed in public show how America’s view of racism changed during the formative years of television and how even the country’s most beloved stars weren’t immune to the prejudices of their times. How are you? Wow, I’m pretty good.

 Someone told me you were in the building, but I didn’t know you were going to swing by this way. It was really nice. John Wayne, the American cowboy. Few people better represented American legend than totally different from John Wayne, the tough individualist whose movies praised frontier justice, honest masculinity, and unwavering patriotism.

Wayne was one of Hollywood’s most bankable stars for decades, and he reflected a certain view of what it means to be American to millions of people. He usually lived up to this carefully created image when he went on the Tonight Show with Carson treating him like a living legend. But Wayne had political and racial views that went against the more accepting view of America that was slowly taking hold during Carson’s time in office.

 People first learned about these views in a famous 1971 interview with Playboy in which Wayne said things that were clearly racist and went far beyond conservative political views. 1971 chat with Playboy. I believe in white power until black people learn enough to see that. Entertainment reporter Thomas Henderson pointed out Wayne’s most famous interview quote, “I take responsibility.

This wasn’t a vague comment or something that could be written off as a mistake. It was an open support of white racism from one of the most famous and loved people in American culture.” Wayne’s defense of European colonists taking land from Native Americans was one of many other troubling things said in the interview.

 A lot of people needed new land, but the Indians were trying to keep it for themselves out of selfishness. This is an example of how racism works in Hollywood. These words showed ideas that went against Wayne’s public image as the personification of justice and fairness in America. Henderson went on to say that Carson interviewed him more than once.

 Wayne was on a lot of shows before and after the Playboy interview became public. That’s not the interesting question. The interesting question is how Carson interviewed someone whose racist views were wellknown. Carson’s behavior changed slightly, but noticeably after the Playboy interview, as shown in old videos of Wayne’s appearances on the Tonight Show, Carson always acted professionally, but his body language and level of engagement with the interviewe changed in ways that suggested he was getting farther away from them. The casual conversation that

had been going on before gave way to a more formal, slightly cooler atmosphere that could be seen by close observers, but never turned into a direct argument. TV historian Margaret Collins said that Wayne never said anything overtly racist on air, but Carson knew about the quote, and their last few conversations were noticeably colder.

 Carson never asked Wayne directly what he thought about something. That wasn’t his way, especially when it came to older stars he liked. But you can feel that the way they talked to each other has changed. Significantly less warmth was felt. Carson’s behavior toward Wayne after the interview showed the tricky balance he had to keep throughout his career.

 He had to adapt to changing social norms while staying out of open conflict with famous people. Carson didn’t ban Wayne or publicly criticize him. Instead, he kept a professional relationship with him while building emotional distance that viewers who paid attention could see.

 The cowboy in America wasn’t just tough. He was a clear white nationalist. This comment gets to the heart of Wayne’s public persona, which is a basic contradiction. There was a big difference between the good, honest roles he played on screen and the racist things he said about himself. Carson’s changing attitude toward Wayne shows how he slowly came to terms with this contradiction and how uncomfortable it was for him to be the host who brought Wayne into American homes.

 Wayne’s appearances on the Tonight Show make it hard to figure out how racist people were in the past. How to balance having a huge impact on culture and making real artistic contributions with having racist views that hurt the communities they targeted. Carson never fully resolved this tension. He showed professional respect for Wayne’s status while creating a subtle distance that recognized that Wayne’s views were problematic without directly confronting them on air.

 Were you told ahead of time about the things you did? Not at all. They didn’t have any trouble with the material. No. Now, the great comedian Bob Hope. Bob Hope’s appearance on Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show was a big deal in the history of American humor. A live link to vaudeville, early radio, and the USO shows that made him a beloved figure among many American generations.

Because he was patriotic, performed for American troops all the time and seemed like a grandfather to the public, he had a special place in American theater that kept him from being criticized for the racist material that was a big part of his early career. Robert Thompson, an entertainment scholar, said that they had a long history of telling racist jokes, blackface comedy, and speaking with a Chinese accent in their early years.

 Hope grew up during a time when these kinds of jokes were common in American shows. And like a lot of comics from that time, he built his early success on racist stereotypes and caricatures that would be totally unacceptable today. As racial views changed, some performers admitted that their early material was offensive. But Hope remained resolutely against any attempts to make comedy more sensitive to racial issues.

 When asked about how he used racist stereotypes early in his career, he usually downplayed worries instead of admitting how they hurt people. Thompson continued, “Refused to apologize for past habits and defended them at the time.” This reaction showed a common view among entertainers of Hope’s time. They thought the changing standards were just an attempt to be politically correct and not a real concern about how racial stereotypes hurt people.

 Fearsomely worrisome was Hope’s continued use of racist material well into times when that kind of material was widely seen as problematic. Even though he toned down the most overtly racist parts of his early shows, his comedy still relied on racial and ethnic stereotypes that most younger comics had given up on as harmful. A former NBC official who worked with both Carson and Hope said that they often used racial stereotypes during interviews and roasts on TV.

 Even in the 1970s and 1980s, Hope would sometimes make jokes about different racial groups during his Tonight Show visits. Carson would usually react with a tight smile or a quick turn instead of laughing out loud or adding to the joke. This was a subtle sign that he was uncomfortable that people who paid attention might pick up on.

 Because Hope was such an iconic older comedian and Carson admired Hope’s gifts to American comedy, Carson had a hard time dealing with her. Carson usually avoided directly confronting Hope about his racist comments by gently steering the conversation away from contentious topics. This way, Carson could avoid confronting his friend about how offensive his comments were.

 Johnny smiled, but he knew the old jokes were no longer funny. This comment gets to the heart of Carson’s problem with Hope, showing respect for a comedy legend, while also realizing that a lot of people in the crowd didn’t like certain parts of his humor anymore. Carson tried to handle this contradiction without making things awkward on air by smiling tightly and quickly switching the subject when Hope said something questionable.

Hope’s case is especially important because it shows how hard it is to honor entertainment past while also recognizing the bad things that happened in it. Without a doubt, Hope made huge impacts to American comedy and kept troops entertained during important times in American history. On the other hand, these contributions had racist content that hurt the groups it was meant for.

 A complicated issue that Carson never fully solved when he talked about Hope on the Tonight Show. Hope’s continued support of racist comedy well into new era showed that many well-known artists were not willing to adapt to new racial sensitivity standards. A group of people who thought that criticizing racist content was an attack on comedy itself, not a real worry about harmful stereotypes.

Carson had to find a way to honor Hope’s legacy while also recognizing that times were changing. He picked a middle ground that didn’t fully confront or ignore the problematic parts of Hope’s comedy. A deal that showed how America’s thinking about race was still not complete during the Carson years is likely one of the most famous artists in the world right now. Please welcome Mr. Charlton H.

 The Hollywood conservative Charlton H. Charlton H was in a unique place in American society when he went on Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show. An American movie star whose work included religious epics like The Ten Commandments and Benner as well as science fiction classics like Planet of the Apes and Soilent Hill. green.

 His strong presence and unique voice made him one of the most recognized actors in movie history. In a field mostly controlled by liberal views, his increasingly outspoken conservatism set him apart. However, these views became more controversial in his later years, especially when it came to race. As H got more involved in politics, especially as head of the National Rifle Association, he said more things in public that many critics saw as ignoring civil rights issues and the fact that racism is a widespread problem in the United States. Political analyst

Jennifer Washington said that he became president of the NRA and afterward said things that downplayed systemic racism. Hun often called civil rights campaigners whiners and said racism was mostly a problem of the past, not a problem with the system as a whole. In the last few years of Carson’s term, these views became more and more important to his public image.

 Carson’s behavior toward H changed as the actor’s political activity gained more attention. However, Carson always treated all of his guests with professionalism. Carson came up with ways to handle H’s more controversial views when he went on the Tonight Show. A former Tonight Show writer who worked with Carson in the 1980s said that Carson didn’t push him too hard.

 But in private, he told writers to lighten up bits with Hani knew that H was more and more likely to talk about his political views, which would include racist views that most people in the crowd would not agree with. Instead of making confrontational moments, he told the writers to come up with funny topics and talks about old movies that would leave less room for H’s more controversial views.

 This was in line with Carson’s overall plan when it came to guests who were politically outspoken, keeping the show’s focus on entertainment instead of letting it become a place for divisive political views from either the left or the right. With H, on the other hand, there was