Barney Actor Says ‘I Laughed’ When the Ku Klux Klan ‘Banned Their Kids From Ever Watching Barney Again’ Because of His Casting

variety.com:

Zack Sharf Digital News Director David Joyner might not be the most recognizable name to television fans, but his work as the actor inside the suit of Barney certainly is.

Joyner played the benevolent purple dinosaur on “Barney & Friends” for a decade from 1991 to 2001. On a recent episode of the “Generation Barney” podcast (via Entertainment Weekly), he remembered a time when the Ku Klux Klan banned their children from watching “Barney” because Joyner is Black.

The actor laughed at such ludicrousness. “I get a call when I’m doing ‘Barney’ from my hometown news reporter, from the Decatur Herald & Review, and he asked me to comment on an article that was in Esquire magazine,” Joyner said. “I had no idea what he was talking about, so he asked me if I would go get the magazine and then give him a call with a comment.

Well, in the magazine, the Klan had found out that the guy inside of the Barney costume was African American, so they banned their kids from ever watching Barney again.” “I said, ‘Well actually, when I read it, I laughed.’ And he says, ‘What do you mean?'” Joyner continued. “I said, ‘Well, it’s the Klan and I can’t change their opinion.’ I said, ‘Plus what we’re trying to do is represent love.