Roseanne Barr Accuses Sara Gilbert of Causing ‘Roseanne’ Cancellation

Roseanne Barr has once against spoken out about the cancellation of Roseanne at ABC, placing blame directly on her former television daughter Sara Gilbert.

Barr’s comments come from a new interview with The Washington Post, saying she can’t forgive Gilbert for her comments in response to the controversial tweet that led to the show being canceled, Barr removed from the role, and then a reboot titled The Conners.

“She destroyed the show and my life with that tweet,” Barr told WaPo in response to Gilbert’s response to her comments. “She will never get enough until she consumes my liver with a fine Chianti.”

Gilbert tweeted that Barr’s tweet about former Obama aide Valerie Jarrett was “abhorrent and do not reflect the beliefs of our cast and crew or anyone associated with our show.” The Post reached out to Gilbert for a brief interview in response to Barr’s latest comments.

“While I am extremely heartbroken over the dissolution of the original show, she will always be family, and I will always love Roseanne,” Gilbert told the outlet.

Roseanne producer Tom Werner also provided a response to Barr’s comments, calling the process of removing Barr from the show and temporarily taking the original series off the air as “difficult.”

“I did not want the last note of the series to be such a sour one,” Werner tells the Post. “It’s my belief that Roseanne is not a racist person, although I find the tweet to be repugnant and racist.”

The reboot of Roseanne had seen great success upon its return and faced hefty criticism due to some of the plots featured on the series and comments made by Barr online. The tweet that led to her dismissal was only the latest in many that dipped toes in conspiracy and controversy.

The Washington Post reveals some of the fallout of the tweet, leading up to the comedian’s dismissal. After the tweet had made the rounds and many were calling Roseanne racist online and pressuring ABC, the network held an emergency call with Barr, Werner, and Disney/ABC Television Group President Ben Sherwood, who questioned why Barr tweeted what she did.

“I’m a comedian,” Barr said. “We step in s– all the time. I already took it down. What else can I do?”

ABC would decide to cancel the show later that afternoon, with the trail of events leading to decisions that involved Werner cutting a deal with Barr to remove her from the series and bring it back as The Conners. The comedian would have “no financial or creative involvement” with the new series going forward.

According to WaPo, the deal is now a source of anger for Barr and she claims Werner went against his word that he would speak out in her defense once the show returned. She claims he hasn’t and the show returned to kill her off with an opioid overdose.

People adds that Gilbert and the other cast opened up about Barr’s absence on the new series ahead of its premiere in October 2018.

“Any sadness that we feel over what we’ve lost we’re hopefully channeling in an honest way into the show,” Gilbert said. “And our show has always been able to deal with heavy topics, particularly for a sitcom. It’s been kind of built into the mix.”

The cast has reportedly signed new deals for a second season, but no official announcement has been made yet.