He has admitted them and it was when he was off his head on drugs and booze...he has eventually kicked all those bad habits.
Plus just listen to any number of black artists who have played with him, they all love him for what he has done for the blues.....u’d be hard pressed to find a better bloke..
True he has honored Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, , BB King, Freddie King, Albert King, Hubert Sumlin, Buddy Guy and many other black artists and personally paid for Howlin’ Wolf’s funeral and headstone.
He saw to it a distant and possibly not genuine relative of Johnson got royalties while the Rolling Stones fought it in court. Gave credit to artists of original songs while Led Zeppelin and Stones refused (until Willie Dixon won a big lawsuit for one case).
Muddy Waters in particular told him he is going to depend on Clapton’s promise to keep the blues alive “Because all of us old timers are dying off, one by one and we’ll be gone.”
He kept the blues alive with Crossroads while a tiny percentage of younger black people cared at all. Most refuse to acknowledge their blues heritage.