John Goodman Speaks out on ‘Roseanne’ Cancellation

John Goodman has officially spoken out about the cancellation of Roseanne, saying it left him “broken-hearted.”

“[B]ut I thought, ‘OK, it’s just show business, I’m going to let it go.’ But I went through a period, about a month, where I was very depressed. I’m a depressive anyway, so any excuse that I can get to lower myself, I will,” Goodman told The Times. “But that had a great deal to do with it, more than I wanted to admit.”

As fans will recall, the revival of the classic sitcom was cancelled by ABC after series star Roseanne Barr tweeted out a racist comment comparing former Barack Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett — an African-American woman — to the “Muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes.”

ABC president Channing Dungey quickly responded by calling the comment “abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values,” then announcing, “we have decided to cancel her show.”

Goodman now says that ABC’s decision “surprised” him. “I’ll put it this way, I was surprised at the response…And that’s probably all I should say about it.”

“I know, I know, for a fact that she’s not a racist,” he then added after a long pause, as reported by E! News.

The iconic actor will return to his role as Dan Conner in a brand new spinoff series — titled The Conners — that will follow the family without Roseanne involved. The comedian signed over her rights to the series so that the spinoff could be possible.

Goodman told The Times that he emailed her to thank her for doing that so the cast and crew could resume working, but confessed that he has not heard back from her. “I did not hear anything back, but she was going through hell at the time,” he said. “And she’s still going through hell.”

While there has not been any official confirmation as to how Barr’s character will be written out of the show, Goodman said that “it’s an unknown” before adding that Dan will “be mopey and sad because his wife’s dead.”

Following the announcement of The Conners, the returning cast released a joint statement expressing their gratitude to the fans who stuck by them.

“We have received a tremendous amount of support from fans of our show, and it’s clear that these characters not only have a place in our hearts, but in the hearts and homes of our audience,” the statement read. “We all came back last season because we wanted to tell stories about the challenges facing a working-class family today. We are so happy to have the opportunity to return with the cast and crew to continue to share those stories through love and laughter.”

The Conners will premiere on Tuesday, Oct. 16 on ABC.