LeVar Burton Candidly Says Banning Books Is ‘Bullshit” on ‘The View’

Actor and former host of literacy-themed children’s television show Reading Rainbow LeVar Burton did not mince words when he spoke out on the wave of book bans that has swept across red states in recent months.

Appearing on The View last Thursday, Burton candidly called the bans of books that discuss race, sexuality and gender “bullshit,” leading to a conservative uproar over his supposed “blunder.”

So Burton immediately spoke out to clarify there was no “blunder,” doubling down on his words on The View with a tweet.

On the push to ban some children’s books, @levarburton tells #TheView, “I’ll be absolutely candid and honest. It’s embarrassing that we are banning books in this country; in this culture; in this day and age.”

“Read the books they’re banning. That’s where the good stuff is!” pic.twitter.com/TUQfqQNpcz

— The View (@TheView) June 10, 2022

The long-running literacy advocate pointedly underlined for the panel what’s actually behind conservatives’ more than 1,500 book bans between January 2021 and March of this year, nearly all of them targeting books tackling either race or LGBTQ+ issues.

A CBS poll in February found 85% of respondents don’t agree with banning books “discussing race and criticizing U.S. history, for depicting slavery in the past or more broadly for political ideas they disagree with.”

Burton will be starring in Picard season 3 later this year where he’ll reprise his iconic role as Geordi LaForge from Star Trek: The Next Generation.