Grammer, 68, appeared on the national radio station’s Today program to discuss his new “Frasier” reboot.
According to the show’s host, Justin Webb, it was Paramount, the studio behind the show, that pulled the plug on the conversation after Grammer acknowledged his support of the former president and current presidential candidate.
BBC Host Spills the Beans
As reported from Yahoo UK, Webb divulged what went on behind the scenes—that the “Frasier” star was “perfectly happy to go on talking” about his support for Trump with the Paramount+ UK PR team seeming not so pleased.“The Paramount+ PR people [were] less happy that he talked about it at some length so we ... They decided we’d had plenty of time for our interview,” Webb said.
After 20 years off the air, “Frasier” was rebooted by Paramount+ two months ago. Grammer is reprising his role as psychiatrist Dr. Frasier Crane of the acclaimed NBC sitcom, which ran from 1993 to 2004. Critics have given the sequel/revival good reviews.
Comeback, New Cast Member
During the BBC interview, Grammer mainly talked about bringing the show back, specifically mentioning Roseanne Barr’s comeback six years ago. He said that had inspired him, and he went on to discuss the definable characteristics of the Frasier character.He also spoke about how he met co-star Lyndhurst four years ago and how the two have related to each other’s family tragedies. Lyndhurst’s son Archie died from a brain hemorrhage in September 2020 at age 19. Among other tragedies in his life, Grammer’s sister Karen was murdered in 1975.
“It was Nic who reminded me that it was only three or four years ago, Archie was standing right next to Nic when I said, ‘I think you should be part of the next Frasier,’“ Grammer said. ”So we’ve always sensed that this was something that was right for us to be together.”
The Emmy-winning actor also said he hoped that the book he just wrote about the experience of losing his sister might help others who have experienced a similar kind of death in their family.
“I spent a good chunk of my lifetime grieving and possibly stopping myself from growing because of that,” he said. “I reckon that people go through these things with an eye toward healing but you will never get over it, that’s just the way it is. So we do talk quite a lot about it.”
“I think to have the perspective of true suffering makes you better at making people laugh. I do think that’s true...
Answer About Trump Dominates Headlines
Grammer’s comment about Trump comes at the very end of the six-minute radio segment and only because he was asked directly about it by Webb, who mentioned that Barr was also a Trump supporter.Mainstream media outlets focused mainly on Grammer’s support of Trump.
As reported by Deadline, “Grammer has previously expressed support for Trump—a relatively rare position for a TV and movie star to take—and he also used his BBC interview to back Roseanne.”
In fact, Grammer had just mentioned during the interview how Barr’s comeback had inspired him.
In the past, the “Frasier” star hasn’t been reticent about supporting conservative candidates, including President Trump.
In 2019, the actor reiterated his support, saying that President Trump’s disruption of politics as usual “is a good thing.”
