Taye Diggs Tells TV One’s ‘Uncensored’ He Was Mocked for Not Acting Black Enough

Taye Diggs says he’s no stranger to criticism. In fact, it started when he was a child.

The How Stella Got Her Groove Back and All American actor is featured on this weekend’s episode of TV One’s Uncensored. In a clip from the episode, Diggs said he was labeled a “white boy” as a child because others didn’t think he acted Black enough.

“Being labeled a ‘white boy,’ it was painful,” he said. “Once I figured out how to manipulate situations, I made a habit of studying people so that I don’t feel less than. As soon as I realized certain Black people at school were calling me ‘white,’ I made it about them. I didn’t change who I was and I just went harder.”

The New Jersey native said the scrutiny continued into adulthood.

“I remember when I moved to New York, people that didn’t even know my history, women would say ‘you only date white girls’ … before they even knew anything about it,” he added. “That happened more times than not.”

Diggs had a thriving career on Broadway before he pivoted into movies and TV. His film credits include The Wood, Brown Sugar, The Best Man movies, and the big screen adaptation of Chicago.

You can hear more from the actor when his episode of Uncensored airs Sunday, March 27 at 10 pm ET on TV One.

The series is produced for TV One by Eric Tomosunas, Keith Neal, James Sunday, March 27 at 10 pm ET on TV One.Seppelfrick, Jay Allen and Nikki Byles (Executive Producers) of Swirl Films.