Roseanne Barr Apologizes for Her Racist Tweets in a New Interview
Roseanne Barr, who starred in ‘90s sitcom Roseanne and this year’s subsequent, short-lived revival on ABC, has apologized for the racist Twitter rant that eventually lead to the revival’s cancellation.
On May 29, she posted a since-deleted tweet that said, “Muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby= vj.” It reportedly referred to an online claim that the CIA spied on French presidential candidates, with “vj” referring to Valerie Jarrett, a former Obama aide. (In the aftermath of the cancellation, Jarrett would call the tweet a “teaching moment.”)
In the subsequent days, ABC cancelled the Roseanne revival—which brought in huge ratings to the network—and announced The Connors, its spinoff, in which Barr will have no financial or creative involvement.
In her first interview since the tweet, Barr apologized for her words on Rabbi Shmuley Boteach’s podcast at Stand Up NY. According to the New York Daily News, the interview actually happened two days after the initial tweets in May, but the rabbi—a friend of Roseanne—waited to release the audio until early this morning.
“I’m a lot of things. I’m a loudmouth and all that stuff, but I’m not stupid, for God’s sake, and I never would have wittingly called any black person … say they are a monkey,” she said, at times crying during the 30-minute long podcast. “I never would do that! And I didn’t do that. And if people think that I did that it just kills me. I didn’t do that, although they think I did. And if they do think that I am so sorry that I- ya know, it was so unclear and stupid. I’m very sorry but I don’t think that, I never would do that.”
“Of course, no I don’t excuse it,” she said, saying again during the interview that she was on Ambien when she tweeted. “I horribly regret it, are you kidding? I’ve lost everything. And I regretted it before I lost everything and I said to God, ‘I am willing to accept whatever consequences this brings because I know I’ve done wrong.’ I’m willing to accept what the consequences are. And, I do. And I have.”
Listen to the full audio here.
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–Valerie Jarrett Responds to Roseanne Cancellation: ‘We Have to Turn It Into a Teaching Moment’