Pat Boone has revealed the real reason why he quit his popular variety show decades ago. At the time, the singer was fond of inviting African American performers onto "The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom," which ran for three seasons, but in 1960 Boone walked out after advertisers and network execs refused to allow him to host actor and singer Harry Belafonte.
Boone recalled the events that led up to him quitting the show in an interview with Fox News on Tuesday.
"I was the youngest guy ever to have his own musical variety show at that age," the 86-year-old said. "I was wallowing in the ecstasy of singing with all these artists… Towards the end of my third season, the greatest performer in the world at that time, Harry Belafonte, called me and said, 'I like the way you treat your guests.' That was the way he put it."
When Belafonte offered to appear on the show Boone immediately said yes but higher-ups pressured him to backtrack on his agreement.
"I talked to Chevrolet and the ABC production people," Boone said. "I said, 'You're not going to believe this: Harry Belafonte wants to come on the show. And they looked at me with these stony looks. 'No, no, we can’t do that.' I said, 'What do you mean?' Well, Chevrolet, they started telling me that they were having trouble with their dealers in the South because of the number of Black performers that were coming on."
Boone said they told him to inform Belafonte that he would not appear on the show.
"So we have to thank him but no thanks," he continued. "And I said, 'You mean I’ve got to tell Harry Belafonte no thanks? Look guys, it says it’s 'The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom,' but if I have to say no to Harry Belafonte, it’s not the Pat Boone show. So I’ll have to ask you to get somebody else to take the show from here."
Boone said he walked out and never returned to the show. His contract was up for renewal but he couldn't have been bothered.
"I’d like to say that we had that meeting, Harry and I because he would have come on and I would have been thrilled to have him," Boone added. "But that was it."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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