Roseanne Barr claims she was fired by ABC because she voted for Donald Trump
The actor also claims that she previously believed Valerie Jarrett 'was white'
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Your support makes all the difference.Roseanne Barr announced earlier this month that, rather than risk a potentially “stressful” exchange with a member of the press, she intended on starting a YouTube channel to broadcast her views.
The 65-year-old has now delivered on that promise, releasing an "official statement" on being fired from the American sitcom Roseanne by the network ABC.
Barr claims that her racist tweet about Valerie Jarrett, the former Obama adviser, was not the reason she was fired. Instead, she blames her own outspoken support of Donald Trump, adding that she initially thought Jarrett was a white woman.
“When ABC called and asked me to explain my ‘egregious and unforgivable tweet,’ I told them I thought Valerie Jarrett was white,” the actor claims.
“I also said, ‘I am willing to go on The View, Jimmy Kimmel, or whatever other show you want me to go on and explain that to my audience’.
“Now, instead what happened was, about 40 minutes after that, my show was cancelled before even one advertiser pulled out and I was labelled a racist.
“Why, you ask? Well, the answer is simple. It’s because I voted for Donald Trump and that is not allowed in Hollywood.”
Barr also posted a separate video hours before. Seeming like an outtake video, Barr eventually looses her temper and shouts: "I thought the b**** was white."
ABC previously issued a statement hours after the initial Tweet was posted, reading: “Roseanne’s Twitter statement is abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values, and we have decided to cancel her show,”
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Barr has said she “horribly regretted” sending out the tweet, but recently acknowledged she had been offered “many things” since being fired. “I almost already accepted one really good offer to go back on TV and I might do it,” she added. “But we’ll see.”
Roseanne’s first episode was watched live by over 18 million viewers, AMC’s highest-rated and most watched series this year, leading to the show being immediately renewed. The network has since begun work on a Roseanne spin-off titled The Conners, which would feature all the main cast minus Barr.
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