Roseanne Barr has fallen from grace since the controversial tweet that saw her sacked from hit comedy Roseanne. This week she gave her first TV interview...
Roseanne Barr has given her first TV interview since she was dropped from her hit sitcom Roseanne, after she insulted Valerie Jarrett, former advisor to President Obama, on Twitter and her tweet went viral.
Roseanne was one of the biggest TV comedies around during its original run between 1988 to 1997. It returned for a successful new run on US TV this year. But just as filming was about to begin on more new episodes, production on the show was shut down following the controversial tweet, which angered many of Roseanne's co-stars, including Sara Gilbert who plays Roseanne Connor's daughter, Darlene.
During her interview with America's Fox News, Roseanne faced the camera and directly apologised to Valerie:
"I’m so sorry that you thought I was racist and that you thought my tweet was racist, because it wasn’t," she said. "It was political. I’m sorry for the misunderstanding that caused, my ill-worded tweet. And I’m sorry that you feel harmed and hurt. I never meant that. And for that I apologize. I never meant to hurt anybody, or say anything negative about an entire race of people, which I think 30 years of my work can attest to."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ib8NSZ92MgU
Meanwhile, telly bosses have wasted no time in rebooting Roseanne, but without its original star and executive producer. Spin-off series The Connors starts in the US in October and will follow the lives of Roseanne's family including husband Dan Connor (played by John Goodman), daughter Darlene (Sara Gilbert) and sister Jackie (award-winning Laurie Metcalfe). Though it hasn't officially been confirmed, rumour has it Roseanne's character will be killed off.
"I didn’t ask to be paid off," Roseanne has said of The Connors. "I asked for nothing, and I just stepped away…because that is penance. I put a lot of thought into it."
