Roseanne Barr Lashes out at Sara Gilbert Over 'Roseanne' Firing, 'The Conners' Spinoff
Roseanne Barr is still not happy with Sara Gilbert over Gilbert's response to the cancellation of [...]
Roseanne Barr is still not happy with Sara Gilbert over Gilbert's response to the cancellation of Roseanne. Barr has not kept in contact with Gilbert or anyone else involved with the series. She also called out ABC over The Conners, and suggested the network conspired to "steal" her "life's work."
Barr sat down with The Daily Mail TV to discuss her upcoming stand-up tour with Andrew Dice Clay. The subject then turned to the collapse of Roseanne in May 2018.
The show was the most-watched sitcom on television when it came back for a 10th season, even quickly earning a renewal. But ABC cancelled the show in May 2018 after Barr compared former Obama aide Valerie Jarrett to the offspring of Planet of the Apes characters. Gilbert tweeted that Barr's message was "abhorrent." In the aftermath, Gilbert spearheaded The Conners spin-off, which will start its second season next week.
In her interview with The Daily Mail, Barr said it was Gilbert's tweet that "got the show canceled to be honest."
When asked if she has ever spoken to Gilbert or other Roseanne castmembers, she said she is not in contact with them.
"When somebody just doesn't care how their actions affect you, what's there to talk about?" she said. "There's nothing to talk about."
Barr said she has not watched The Conners and will only watch reruns of the original Roseanne. She accused ABC of using the tweet and firing as "an excuse to steal [her] life's work."
"When it happened it was like I thought I was gonna lose my life," Barr said. "It was devastating and horrible and is unprecedented too that they would do that to me."
Barr continued to theorize that there was more to her firing than people think. She suggested her continued support for President Donald Trump had something to do with it, even though it was known she supported Trump before the show was picked up for another season.
"It was a perfect storm," she told the Mail. "That's what I think, just the perfect storm at the perfect time. Kind of a little bit too perfect. Sometimes I think "was this orchestrated? The whole thing?'"
Barr continued, "All of Hollywood, they just hate him and they hate those of us who like him. There is no way around it... So, yeah, I think they took me off because I liked him and I like him because I'm a Jew and he likes Israel."
Barr once again claimed she was on Ambien when she tweeted about Jarrett, and said she did not know Jarrett is black. Today, Barr no longer uses Ambien.
"I've been [Ambien] sober for a year and a half since I got fired. I haven't used Ambien and my life is really, really so much better and I really would like people to understand that," Barr said. "That's a very powerful drug that does a lot of negative harm to people who use it. I haven't used it since my Ambien tweet and you've got to be real careful... It makes you do whack stuff."
The Conners will be back on ABC Tuesday, Sept. 24.
Photo credit: Cliff Lipson/CBS via Getty Images