Silke Jasso
Roseanne Barr is making headlines again, but this time, thanks to a “Roseanne” cast member. John Goodman spoke with The Sunday Times about his former co-star, stating he “knows for a fact” she’s not racist. His statement comes months after 55-year-old Barr was fired by ABC for a racist tweet comparing former Barack Obama advisor Valerie Jarrett to an ape. Goodman stated the tweet (“Muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby=vj”) had more to do with the public outrage rather than the tweet itself.
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The 66-year-old actor, who played Barr’s on-screen husband in the sitcom’s original 9 season run as well as the rebooted season, added after the cancellation of the massive rating reboot, he went through depression. He believes the tweet not only screwed over Barr but the entire production crew and cast as well. He added,
“I was brokenhearted, but I thought, ‘OK, it’s just show business, I’m going to let it go.’ But I went through a period, about a month, where I was very depressed. I’m a depressive anyway, so any excuse that I can get to lower myself, I will. But that had a great deal to do with it, more than I wanted to admit.”
Goodman has yet to hear back from his co-star since the incident but states the two were very good “work friends”. He reached out to Burr after the show was canceled, but never received a response from the actress. Due to the incident, Barr agreed to walk away from the show, signing a contract saying she relinquished all rights so the rebranded reboot “The Connors” could replace it.
Goodman and the rest of his “TV family” will be back on the reboot where it will follow Sara Gilbert’s character, Darlene Conner, and see the return of both Goodman and Laurie Metcalf. The actor did not reveal any details about what to expect from his character, but stated the writers pulled a page out of Shonda Rhimes book and indeed, killed Barr’s character off. Well, I guess that’s one way to do it, huh?
“The Connors” premieres on ABC Tuesday, October 16 at 8 p.m.
