David Joyner He remembered some of the hate he received as the benevolent barneyremembering the time he found out that the Ku Klux Klan had banned his children from watching the show after learning that the man under the purple dinosaur suit was black.

The anecdote is shared in the latest episode of Barney Generationa new seven-part podcast from Connecticut Public dedicated to the beloved dinosaur and how the PBS show shaped generations.

“I get a call when I’m doing barney From my hometown reporter, from Decatur Herald and reviewand asked me to comment on an article that was in gift magazine,” Joyner recalled. “I had no idea what he was talking about, so he asked me if I could go get the magazine and then call him with a comment. Well, in the magazine, the Klan found out that the guy inside Barney’s costume was African-American, so they banned their kids from watching it. barney again.”

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When the reporter asked his opinion, “I said, ‘Well, actually, when I read it, I laughed.’ And he says, ‘What do you mean?'” Joyner said. “I said, ‘Well, it’s the Klan and I can’t change their mind.’ I said, ‘Besides, what we’re trying to do is represent love. If someone is trying to represent hate, the last thing they want is to love and if the color of my skin changes that opinion for someone, I can’t do anything about it’ because that’s what it is.'”

Joyner said he didn’t let those moments get to him, but instead embraced the magic of playing Barney. Like the dinosaur, love was and still is the most important thing to Joyner. “Our parents encouraged us before we went for a walk, to look in the mirror and say, ‘I love you,’ so that you walk outside with love,” she said. “Now I didn’t know that I’m literally training.” For this character, being able to go out on the street with love in his heart. So when I got the role too, it wasn’t like I had to put on a costume and a facade and become the character.”

Joyner played the beloved dinosaur for a decade, from 1991 to 2001 onwards. Barney and his friends. He also shared the role with Bob West, who voiced the dinosaur from 1988 to 2000.

The rise of the beloved dinosaur was also explored in the 2022 Peacock documentary. I love you, you hate mewhich traces Barney’s beginnings to the eventual vitriol the dinosaur received. “Barney bashing” was a very real and terrifying phenomenon, and the show’s composer Bob Singleton recalls in the documentary the death threats he received over the theme song.

“I was surprised that they felt like they wanted to physically harm me,” Singleton recalled. “I received emails about real death and dismemberment of my family.”

Listen to the latest episode of Barney Generation above.