EPISODE 5: My Friend & Colleague Ted Turner

:: DROPPING EVERY TUESDAY SUMMER 2023 ::

“Ted Turner is probably the smartest person I ever met,” says Xernona Clayton, who was a trusted colleague and lifelong friend of the philanthropist media mogul and founder of TNT, TBS and CNN. From their daily coffee klatches to lively 4am conversations, theirs is a relationship that endured. Ms. Clayton became Ted Turner’s confidante and worked to improve race relations at the station and network. “He liked my sensitivity,” says Ms. Clayton, who ultimately became the voice and conscience of Turner’s company. “We laughed a lot and trusted each other. There was a special mutual respect between us,” says Ms. Clayton. “Ted once said he’d go into a burning building for me, and that’s something I’ll never forget.”

For more, don’t miss Xernona Clayton: A Life in Black & White, airing on Brown Sugar, featuring the largest catalog of classic Black cinema. Go to brownsugar.com.