Kelsey Grammer Reveals the True Reason Behind 30-Year Feud with 'Cheers' Co-Star Ted Danson
Kelsey Grammer recently shared with the New York Post the underlying cause of his three-decade estrangement from "Cheers" colleague Ted Danson.
In an October podcast appearance, Danson apologized to Grammer for an incident on the "Cheers" set that led to their estrangement. However, Grammer now clarifies that there was no singular event that ruptured their friendship. Instead, it was a gradual build-up of tensions that culminated in their split.
"It got a little blown out of proportion. There really wasn't an argument," Grammer said. "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."
According to Grammer, Danson had approached him to express disappointment about his occasional lack of preparedness on set. Grammer responded respectfully, but the interaction planted a seed of distance between them.
"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. Maybe he just had to protect himself. I don’t really know. But, I said, ‘Thanks.’ We were fine with that.”
Grammer expressed surprise that Danson's candid feedback had such a profound impact on their relationship, leading to their prolonged separation. Danson starred as Sam Malone in "Cheers" for 11 seasons, while Grammer joined the cast as Dr. Frasier Crane in Season 3 and became a series regular from Season 5 onwards. Grammer later went on to lead the successful "Cheers" spin-off series, "Frasier."
Last year, Danson, Grammer, and their former "Cheers" castmate Woody Harrelson reunited on Harrelson's podcast, where Danson took public responsibility for the rift with Grammer.
“I feel like I got stuck a little bit with you during the ‘Cheers’ years,” Danson said to Grammer. “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 apologizing to you.”
Grammer expressed gratitude for Danson's apology and admitted that he also wished they had maintained a closer connection. "My love for you has always been as easy as the day. As easy as the sunrise," he said.