tioo Business
Arsenio Hall flipped out and broke a studio gate after being accused of stealing — and told his show needed to be less black



Arsenio Hall reveals he lost his cool on the Paramount lot when he was stopped by security over stolen equipment — and suggests it was racially motivated.

In “Arsenio: A Memoir,” out April 7, the former talk-show host, now 70, recalls how someone stole bandleader Michael Wolff’s “keyboard, some other instruments, a couple of amps” off the set of “The Arsenio Hall Show” in 1992.

Arsenio Hall, seen here in 1993, writes about being stopped by security over stolen equipment — and suggests it was racially motivated. ©Paramount/Courtesy Everett Collection
The comedian says he was stopped by a Paramount guard, who asked to search his car, after Hall himself had reported items stolen from his own set. Getty Images

Hall reported the theft to the studio. But that night, as he was leaving the lot with his assistant, known as J Dub, a security guard stopped him.

“We have to search your car,” the guard told him.

“Arsenio Hall Show” bandleader Michael Wolff (left, with Hall, bottom right, and the show’s house band) had reported a keyboard, other instruments and amps were stolen from the set. ©Paramount Television/Courtesy Everett Collection

Hall was furious.

“‘Search my car?’” He spat out. “‘Somebody stole equipment from my show. I’m an owner of the show so that means they stole my s–t. You think I stole my own stuff?’”

The “Coming to America” star revealed that he was “so furious” that his eyes “glazed over.”

Hall, seen here in 2023, says that his assistant broke a wooden gate at Paramount and drove off the lot. Getty Images for Netflix

“I know Johnny [Carson] has never been accused of stealing Doc Severinsen’s equipment and held hostage on the NBC lot … ” he writes.

Hall also asked the guard, “‘Did you search Ted Danson’s car when he left?’ Ted stars in the hit sitcom, Cheers, which shoots on the Paramount lot. I like Ted. We’re friendly. But Ted Danson, unlike me, is white.”

J Dub then got out of the car, walked over to the wooden gate and “bends it back until it snaps off…I’m not proud that we broke the Paramount gate. I’m less proud of the anger I feel constantly, coiled inside me like a live electrical wire. I fight to keep it in check.”

After being told his car required a search, Hall asked the Paramount security guard: “Did you search Ted Danson’s car when he left?’” Danson was starring on “Cheers” at the time. ©NBC/Courtesy Everett Collection
“I know Johnny [Carson] has never been accused of stealing Doc Severinsen’s equipment and held hostage on the NBC lot … ” Hall writes of the late “Tonight Show” host. ZUMA Press

Hall, the first black host of a late-night talk show, writes that he regularly dealt with “outpourings of hate —both blatant and thinly disguised racism,” including daily hate mail.

The show, which ran from 1989 to 1994, was a huge hit for three years before ratings began to falter.

That was when Hall heard from Paramount executives that focus groups found the show too black. He writes that he was told not to call guests “brother” or wear ripped jeans.

Paramount executives complained that the show was too black and told Hall (seen above on set with guest Jesse Jackson) not to call guests “brother.” ©Paramount Television/Courtesy Everett Collection

Hall felt trapped, with “black people saying I’m too white, white people saying I’m too black… “

He handed in a resignation letter, which Paramount buried. Weeks later, they released a statement announcing the show was ending in May 1994.