Latest news with #TheConners
New York Post
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- New York Post
Roseanne Barr makes explosive claim that ABC ‘spied' on her before firing
Roseanne Barr is speaking her truth. The comedian-turned-Hollywood pariah has made explosive claims about her former employer, ABC, with which she worked for over 10 years. Barr, 72, first graced the network with her sitcom 'Roseanne' in 1988. The hit show, which also featured John Goodman (Dan Conner), Sara Gilbert (Darlene Conner), Laurie Metcalf (Jackie Harris), Johnny Galecki (David Healy) and more, lasted 10 seasons until 1997. Advertisement ABC revived Barr and her TV family's characters for a 'Roseanne' reboot over two decades later — but her comeback was short-lived. 14 Roseanne Barr on 'The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon' in 2018. Getty Images for NBC 14 Roseanne Barr attends the premiere of ABC's 'Roseanne.' Getty Images Advertisement The star was abruptly fired for her outspoken tweet about former Barack Obama advisor Valerie Jarrett, which she said the political aide looked like the offspring of the 'Muslim brotherhood & Planet of the Apes.' ABC bosses killed the show despite its high ratings, blasting Barr's comment as 'abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values.' The network later created the spinoff 'The Conners,' featuring several of Barr's former co-stars and killing off her character. The spinoff lasted seven seasons and recently ended, with the finale airing in April. However, Barr is now addressing the fourth wall in a defiant new interview with the Daily Mail published on Friday, May 30, claiming the cancel culture mob — which she alleged included her bosses — came for blood. Advertisement 14 Roseanne on the spinoff show. ABC 14 Roseanne and co-stars in a scene for the reboot. Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images 14 Roseanne Barr claims her ABC bosses were watching her every move. Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images 'They were waiting for me to slip up,' the comedian alleged in the interview, confirming she meant the left-leaning executives at the network, who she claimed were already on high alert about her outspoken support for Trump. Advertisement 'They spied. They monitored everything I did,' she claimed. 'They wanted to censor me from the very beginning.' She also accused her ABC liberal bosses of allegedly hijacking her words about Jarrett. 'They hijacked that tweet and made out it said something that it didn't,' Barr insisted. 14 Roseanne was fired after she tweeted about Obama's political aide. Getty Images Still, Bob Iger, chief exec of the Walt Disney Company, ABC's corporate parent, said at the time, 'There was only one thing to do here, and that was the right thing.' The comedian said she was unaware of Jarrett's background, which includes being born in Iran and having African-American parents. Following the backlash, Barr blamed her prescription medication for the comment, claiming she was 'Ambien tweeting' when she published her tweet. 14 She claimed the left-winged ABC execs were 'monitoring' her. Getty Images Advertisement 14 She later apologized for the tweet but it was too late. ©Carsey-Werner Co/Courtesy Everett Collection However, the former star who fell from grace now insisted it wasn't about race at all. 'I'm not stupid. I would never refer to a black person as the product of an ape,' Barr told Daily Mail, insisting it was about Obama's Iran nuclear deal, which the comedian opposed. 'The Planet of the Apes movie is about a fascist takeover of the world – and that is what I was talking about. The tweet was intended as a humorous political statement and not a racial one. But liberals in Hollywood are so racist, they automatically think of a black person,' Barr explained. Advertisement She's also taking back her apology for the tweet, in which she claimed she was 'truly sorry for making a bad joke about her politics and looks,' saying her joke was 'in bad taste.' 14 She nows says that apologizing was a mistake. ©Carsey-Werner Co/Courtesy Everett Collection 14 Roseanne also claimed she had behind the scenes drama with men in charge during her 'Roseanne' days. ©Carsey-Werner Co/Courtesy Everett Collection 'The worst mistake you can do is apologize to the left. Then they are on a crusade against you,' she said in the new interview. 'Once you admit a mistake, they will keep on until you're dead.' Advertisement Barr said she was butting heads with several men behind the scenes of 'Roseanne' decades before the tweet, insisting they had no grasp of what the average person at home wanted to watch. She wanted a more humorous presence on the sitcom, accusing them of saving the best and most funny lines for her TV husband, Goodman. 14 Roseanne claims she wanted to tackle the political divide in the reboot but Goodman allegedly refused to play the Republican. ©Carsey-Werner Co/Courtesy Everett Collection 'They were aghast. They said people are not gonna go for this. I go, 'working class people are like this – they are not like your wife. They don't have servants,'' Barr said. Advertisement 'It's all just elitists from Harvard. They did think the audience was deplorable, [whether] Democrat or Republican, at that time,' she continued. At one point, Barr — who became the second-highest-paid woman on TV behind Oprah Winfrey — began rewriting her lines and threatening to boycott scenes. 14 She has since moved out of Hollywood and is living in Texas. ©Carsey-Werner Co/Courtesy Everett Collection 'I thought to myself, when this show goes to number one, here are the people I will fire. So I named everybody,' the comedian revealed. Once it happened, Barr followed up on her word. 'Right after that, everyone who was on the bad boy and girl Santa list, they were fired as a motherf–ker,' she shared. The comedian said that when she threw her support behind Trump in 2016, people were up in arms that she wasn't voting for the female candidate, Hillary Clinton. 14 Roseanne's character was killed off in the revival. Disney via Getty Images 'It was vaginal politics. It made me sick,' she said, adding that she wanted to tackle the political divide on the 'Roseanne' reboot. 'I wanted a Trump hater and a Hillary hater. They were pissed at each other but they loved each other,' she explained of her and Goodman's characters. Barr shared that she wanted Goodman to play the Republican supporter to take some heat off of her and the idea that she was a MAGA mouthpiece. 'John refused. It fell to me. I looked like a crusader,' she stated. 14 She's gearing up for her new documentary, which will be released next month. ©Carsey-Werner Co/Courtesy Everett Collection Barr also claimed that her Republican forward tweets made her ABC bosses sweat, claiming they allegedly asked her to delete several of them. The Post reached out to ABC for comment. Barr has since left Hollywood and is living on a ranch in Texas with her son, Jake, his wife and their daughters. She has no plan to return to Tinsel Town. 'It's a very liberal city, that's why I live outside of it,' the comedian said. That doesn't mean she won't be back on the TV screen. Barr is telling her side of the story in an upcoming documentary, 'Roseanne Barr is America,' by conservative filmmaker Joel Gilbert, releasing on several streaming platforms on June 10.
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Dan Levy's new comedy series news just might heal the 'Schitt's Creek' shaped hole in your heart
Holy Schitt, Dan Levy just announced a new family comedy series, and it sounds like the next best thing to a Schitt's Creek revival. During Netflix's 2025 upfront presentation today, the streamer announced that Levy had created a yet-untitled comedy series in which he will star, showrun, and co-executive produce (alongside Rachel Sennott). Starring along with Levy are beloved comedic actress Laurie Metcalf (The Conners) and Taylor Ortega who just starred in the Netflix series The Four Seasons. While details remain largely under wraps Netflix did share the official logline, "Two deeply incapable siblings are blackmailed into the world of organized crime." Presumably the trio of actors will be playing mother and siblings and the set up sounds rife for the kind of comedy that Levy excels at. Honestly we're just delighted to have him heading back to our screens. And we're not the only ones thrilled by the news. "I'm so excited to be bringing this truly chaotic family story to life with Netflix," Levy said in a statement. "Thrilled with the team we're building both behind the scenes and in front of the camera. Taylor Ortega is going to become a household name and it's been my life's mission to get to call Laurie Metcalf 'mother.' Looking forward to getting to share this with everyone." As for when we will get to see the 8-episode limited series, that's still a bit of ways off. Production begins later this year. Gives us plenty of time to rewatch Schitt's Creek from top to bottom… again.
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Roseanne Barr Had Surprise Reaction to ‘The Conners' Finale
Roseanne Barr had no idea The Conners ended its run on ABC, her son has revealed. The spinoff sitcom wrapped its seventh and final season on April 23, seven years after Barr parted ways from the original Roseanne series amid a racist tweet scandal. Barr's son, Jake Pentland, told TMZ that his mom didn't know The Conners ended because she never paid attention to the show. He also clarified that while Barr and the rest of their family never watched an episode of the spinoff, they were happy to learn that the crew members were able to continue to work for years despite Barr's exit. Pentland had a slightly shadier take when talking to Us Weekly. When asked about the end of The Conners, he told the outlet, 'We don't care about cheap knockoffs. We support the real brands. We only pay attention to things that matter to the American people.' Barr's character, Roseanne Conner, was killed off of the Roseanne series in 2018, and the spinoff launched later that year. The Conners series finale addressed the character's death heavily, with one scene that featured the entire cast at Roseanne's gravesite saying their goodbyes. No flashback footage of Barr was shown at all as the show ended its run. In an interview with The New York Post, producer Bruce Rasmussen credited Barr with 'graciously' stepping away from the series she helped create, helping to save hundreds of jobs by allowing The Conners spinoff to be greenlit. Rasmussen noted that he had not talked to Barr since 2018. Barr has been living in Texas and co-hosts a podcast with her son. Pentland hinted that his mom could make a return to acting at some point. He told Us Weekly that Barr has been back to writing scripts. 'You might just see her on TV again soon,' he said. 'You never know.''
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Actress Lecy Goranson reflects on ‘The Conners' and ‘Roseanne'
(NewsNation) — Lecy Goranson, who played Becky Conner in both 'Roseanne' and 'The Conners,' tells 'Morning in America' that saying goodbye to her TV family after nearly four decades is difficult but that she's happy with all they accomplished. 'It really helped families be able to talk about difficult topics through humor,' Goranson said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
New York Post
29-04-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Post
‘Roseanne' star Michael Fishman breaks silence on his absence from ‘The Conners' series finale
They're fishing for a reaction. Former 'Roseanne' star Michael Fishman is speaking out about missing 'The Conners' series finale, which aired Wednesday, April 23. Fishman, 43, starred as D.J. Conner – the only son of Dan (John Goodman) and Roseanne (Roseanne Barr). Advertisement In a video posted to Instagram on April 24, Fishman, who returned as D.J. for the first four seasons of 'The Conners,' said, 'It's the day after The Conners' finale, and I have been inundated with people looking for a reaction.' Addressing his absence in the series finale, he said, 'People seem to want to have there be some kind of conflict or controversy, especially on my part. The reality is, all I really have is empathy and understanding for all of the people on set and for all of our audience that's grieving.' 9 Michael Fishman in 'Roseanne.' Everett Collection / Everett Collection Advertisement 9 Sara Gilbert and Michael Fishman in 'The Conners.' ABC via Getty Images 9 Michael Fishman in his April 2025 Instagram video. reelmfishman/Instagram He went on to say, 'I prefer to be a lighthouse in the dark. It's for that reason that I'm creating a safe space to build community to process difficult emotions and transitions.' He shared that when he reflects on the legacy of the show – that started with Barr – 'I have only gratitude. I really believe that that legacy belongs to all of you in the audience.' Advertisement Fishman ended by saying, 'I've been really lucky to be rewarded for my professionalism and kindness and collaboration by the Carci Warner Company, who owns it, who has asked me to keep shining a light on the series. And it's been my honor, because I believe it's a comfort show for many. So in this time, I keep thinking to myself, it's the perfect time to reconnect. It's the perfect time to go back and celebrate. And so I'm looking back and starting over and watching from the beginning with a whole new perspective.' Starring Goodman, Laurie Metcalf, Sara Gilbert and Lecy Goranson, 'The Conners' aired for seven seasons from 2018 to 2025 – succeeding the original show 'Roseanne,' which aired from 1988 to 1997. 'Roseanne' briefly returned for a revival in 2018, until Barr's controversial tweets got it axed, she got fired, and her fictional counterpart got killed off. 9 John Goodman, Sara Gilbert, and J. R Ferguson in 'The Conners.' Disney Advertisement 9 Estelle Parsons, John Goodman, Michael Fishman and Roseanne Barr on 'Roseanne.' Courtesy Everett Collection Fishman was in both shows, but he announced that he was leaving 'The Conners' in 2022. In a statement at the time, he said, 'While I was told I would not be returning for season 5, Lanford was a valuable place to grow up, learn and develop. I was incredibly lucky to return home and demonstrate my expansion. As I venture into the world to build the future, I send tremendous love and success to everyone involved in production.' 'The Conners' ended with the family – including Dan (Goodman), Jackie (Metcalf), Darlene (Gilbert), and Becky (Goranson) – tearfully saying 'goodnight' to each other before Dan was left alone in the family living room. Goodman then looked right at the camera, smiling with tears in his eyes, and said 'goodnight' directly to the audience. 9 Laurie Metcalf, Emma Kenney, Lecy Goranson, Sara Gilbert, Michael Fishman, Jayden Rey and John Goodman of 'The Conners.' Penske Media via Getty Images 9 John Goodman and Michael Fishman in 'The Conners.' ABC Executive producer and showrunner Bruce Helford told The Post, 'he had pitched that; it was his idea.' Advertisement 'I think [Goodman] just felt that was the right way to say goodbye, and acknowledge the bond, because the audience is part of that show,' exec producer Dave Caplan added. 'We are so much connected to the audience; we're not just an entertainment. It's been a family for 37 years.' Helford added, 'He felt the bond of all those years with the audience. And I think just as a decent guy, his instinct was to say, 'Thank you.' How do you argue with that?' 9 Roseanne Barr, Michael Fishman, John Goodman, Lecy Goranson, Sara Gilbert in 'Roseanne.' ©Carsey-Werner Co/Everett Collec Advertisement 9 Katey Sagal, John Goodman, Jay. R. Ferguson, Sara Gilbert, Lecy Goranson, Sean Astin, Laurie Metcalf, and Nat Faxon in 'The Conners' series finale. Disney 'The Conners' series finale also featured a scene where the characters talk to Roseanne's grave. Caplan told The Post, 'The truth is, we never really shied from giving Roseanne Conner her due, because she was a matriarch of the family. And, she was the center of that family for so many years.' Advertisement To avoid talking about her in 'The Conners' would have felt 'really wrong, and really shortchanging the audience.' He added, 'She's a central character in all these people's lives. So, it felt like the right thing to do.'
