Irony here is that Arsenio was the hippest, hoppiest black guy on television and the black community refused to embrace him.
I bet that reinventing himself was difficult.
I think he was perceived to have ‘sold out to Whitey’ to get his show, and was shunned. I can’t understand that mentality of the Black community, but it is what it is, and is much worse today. Personally, I never cared for his schtick and didn’t watch it.