Roseanne Barr Claims She Thought Valerie Jarrett Was White in First Post-Scandal Interview

Roseanne Barr is claiming ignorance when it comes to matter of Valerie Jarrett’s race.

In an interview conducted on May 31 but just release, Barr told The Jerusalem Post‘s Shmuley Boteach that when she sent her infamous tweet that compared the former Barack Obama aide to Planet of the Apes, she thought Jarrett was white.

“Valerie Jarrett, I don’t agree with her politics and I thought she was white, I did not know she was a black woman,” Barr said. “When ABC called me and said ‘What is the reason for your egregious racism?,’ I said, ‘Oh my God, it is a form of racism. I guess I didn’t know she was black, and I’ll cop to it, but I thought she was white.’”

Barr seems to use this excuse as one of the main bases for her apology, saying elsewhere in the lengthy interview that she would not “wittingly” make a comparison between a black person and a monkey.

“I’m a lot of things, a loud mouth and all that stuff. But I’m not stupid for God’s sake,” Barr said. “I never would have wittingly call any black person and say they are a monkey. I just wouldn’t do that. I didn’t do that. And people think that I did that and it just kills me. I didn’t do that. And if they do think that, I’m just so sorry that I was so unclear and stupid. I’m very sorry…I have loved ones who are African American, and I just can’t stand it.”

She adds, “I am so sorry that I was so unclear and stupid. I’m very sorry but I don’t think that, I never would do that.”

Throughout the interview, which was recorded in podcast form, the Roseanne actress repeatedly tries to make amend and show that she is remorseful for her actions.

“I don’t excuse it. I horribly regret it,” Barr said. “I lost everything, and I regretted it before I lost everything. And I said to God, ‘I am willing to accept whatever consequences this brings because I know I’ve done wrong. I’m going to accept what the consequences are, and I do, and I have. But they don’t ever stop. They don’t accept my apology, or explanation. And I’ve made myself a hate magnet. And as a Jew, it’s just horrible. It’s horrible.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Barr touches on a variety of topics, including the fact that she “idolizes” Martin Luther King, Jr. and that she wants her Twitter followers to stop defending her infamous tweet.

Photo Credit: NBC / Andrew Lipovsky