Jerry Seinfeld Skewered on Twitter for Defending Roseanne Barr

Jerry Seinfeld took a verbal beating on Twitter on Tuesday after questioning ABC's decision to [...]

By Michael Hein

Jerry Seinfeld took a verbal beating on Twitter on Tuesday after questioning ABC's decision to fire Roseanne Barr.

Seinfeld knows a thing or two about starring in a hit show with your own name in the title, which apparently gave him some sympathy for Barr. On Monday, Seinfeld spoke to Entertainment Tonight about the latest season of Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, his Netflix talk show. When reporters broached the subject of Barr, the 64-year-old did not hesitate to state his opinion.

"I didn't see why it was necessary to fire her," Seinfeld said. "Why would you murder someone who's committing suicide? But I never saw someone ruin their entire career with one button push."

As for ABC's newly greenlit spin-off series, The Conners, Seinfeld saw it as a waste to do away with the character of Roseanne altogether. He believed the opportunity should be given to another female comedian.

"I think they should get another Roseanne," he said. "They brought Dan Conner back, he was dead and they brought him back. So, why can't we get another Roseanne? There's other funny women that could do that part. You need to get the comic in there. I hate to see a comic lose a job."

The responses to Seinfeld's views were blunt and unforgiving on Twitter. Users chimed in with accusations that he had "probably voted for Trump," and was merely seeking attention.

"Please f— off Jerry, thank you!" one person wrote.

"Hello. Disney is an international company," reasoned another. "By Keeping her they're saying the agree with her views. Think about the repercussions this could have on Disney around the world. They had no choice."

If Seinfeld was being facetious or trying to make a joke, no one gave any hint of noticing. His show also got a lot of heat in the responses, where people said they had never really liked the long-defunct sitcom.

"Well Curb > Seinfeld so yea," replied one person, referring to Seinfeld producer Larry David's HBO sitcom, Curb Your Enthusiasm.

"Seinfeld, didn't his show get cancelled?" wondered someone else.

Barr got the entire production of the Roseanne reboot cancelled back in May when she posted a racist tweet about former Obama administration adviser Valerie Jarrett, comparing her to an ape and implying that she had a connection to the terrorist organization the Muslim Brotherhood. The move sent a powerful message, as Roseanne was one of ABC's top performing shows this year.

Just last week, the network reached a compromise, picking up a spin-off series that will center around the rest of the Conner family without the controversial figure of Barr herself.

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