Actor Dax Shepard has put his Armchair Expert podcast on a temporary hold to reflect and learn more about the "current state of tragic affairs" following the death of George Floyd.
The Parenthood star has been uploading new episodes of his weekly show ever since it launched in 2018, but on Monday he decided to postpone the usual release of a new celebrity interview, and explained his reasoning on social media.
In the lengthy post, Shepard revealed he felt it would be wrong to ignore the social and political unrest over the death of African-American Floyd at the hands of a white police officer in Minnesota on 25 May, which has led to mass Black Lives Matter protests across the U.S.
Instead, he and co-host Monica Padman pledged to make donations to benefit relevant causes, while also inviting experts on the topic to take part in an upcoming discussion episode about racial inequality, police brutality, and other "uncomfortable" issues.
"In light of the current state of tragic affairs, we feel it would be disrespectful to release an episode today," Shepard wrote.
"We were planning on releasing like normal, but realized that in itself is part of the problem- that systemically we continue to prioritize convenience over racism; that societally we have normalized the unacceptable."
The post continued, "At Armchair Expert podcast we are ultimately and always committed to learning. Learning about ourselves, learning about facts but most importantly learning about others.
"However, it is becoming increasingly apparent that there are topics, due to our privilege, we are uncomfortable learning about. And it's those areas where we need to learn the most. So, we are committed to getting educated and having experts on who can help us be a part of the solution.
"We will be taking this Monday off and will be back this Thursday. In the days leading to then we will be donating $50,000 to Color of Change and $50,000 to GiveDirectly- two organizations committed to equality."
Black Lives Matter activists have been demanding justice for Floyd since video footage of the incident went viral, with the disturbing clip showing Minneapolis cop Derek Chauvin kneeling on the man's neck while making an arrest, despite him repeatedly complaining he was struggling to breathe.
Chauvin and three of his fellow arresting officers have since been terminated from the police force, while Chauvin has been taken into custody and charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.
