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Roseanne Barr reveals who is to blame for her career-ending racist tweet
Roseanne Barr deflected accountability for her career-ending Tweet in a new interview.
In 2018, Barr's, 72, shocking 2am comment about former Barack Obama advisor Valerie Jarrett directly resulted in the cancellation of her 'Roseanne' reboot, with network bosses condemning her Tweet as 'abhorrent' and 'repugnant.'
Barr insisted she had no idea about Jarrett's African-American ancestry when suggesting that the political aide looked like the 'Muslim brotherhood and Planet of the Apes had a baby'.
Now, Barr reflected on the controversy, sharing in a recent interview with Variety that 'God' told her to write the Tweet.
'The way I feel about it is God told me to do what I did, and it was a nuclear bomb,' the Roseanne alum stated.
Barr also called the Tweet a 'perfect caption.' She told the outlet that she was unaware Jarrett, who was involved in Obama 's 2015 Iran nuclear deal, is Black.
Roseanne said she was 'having nightmares' about reprising her role on the ABC show until 'God woke [her] up.'
'I had my laptop there in bed, as always, and I opened it, and there was [a post with] a picture of Valerie Jarrett next to Helena Bonham Carter in full makeup as Ari in "Planet of the Apes," and they looked like Xerox copies of each other, so I captioned it.'
She also denied that the tweet was racist.
'[Other people] were so racist that they thought my tweet said Black people look like monkeys when it was about 'Planet of the Apes,' which is a movie about fascism,' Barr said.
'[Screenwriter] Rod Serling himself said it's about the Jews in Germany. It is not a movie about Black people.'
The comedian added that 'over 2 million Americans Googled Valerie Jarrett and the Iran deal' afterward.
'That was my intent. So whatever,' she quipped.
Barr has previously claimed that she was under the influence of alcohol and Ambien when she posted the controversial tweets, before ultimately leaving the platform.
Barr referred to Jarrett as the offspring of the 'muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes' in a tweet from seven years ago
Barr quickly apologized for the tweet after it immediately drew backlash. She offered various explanations for the cruel jab at Jarrett, including 'Ambien tweeting', but the damage was done
The viral tweet led to the cancellation of her show Roseanne, though it later returned as The Conners, without Barr.
Her character was killed off by an opioid overdose.
In her latest interview she said the choice to write off her character was 'stupid and shortsighted', adding, 'I felt very pissed off that they stole my rights and killed me.'
'I don't know how they answer to their shareholders for canceling me before even one sponsor pulled out,' she added.
Barr also explained that she regrets apologizing for her Tweets.
'I made the mistake of apologizing, and it only got worse after that,' she said.
The Conners supplanted Roseanne after Roseanne Barr's May 2018 firing from the show.
Sara Gilbert, John Goodman, Laurie Metcalf and Lecy Goranson all continued to appear on the series in their characters.
The rebooted show ended with Goodman getting a settlement over his storyline spouse's passing, then visiting her grave with the family.
Jarrett in May of 2018 said Disney CEO Bob Iger personally contacted her with an apology over the uncomfortable situation.
'He wanted me to know before he made it public that he was canceling the show,' Jarrett said in an MSNBC townhall called 'Everyday Racism in America' that aired in May of 2018.
She added, 'First of all, I think we have to turn it into a teaching moment. I'm fine. I'm worried about all the people out there who don't have a circle of friends and followers coming to their defense.'
The original Roseanne show debuted on October 18, 1988, drawing in 21.4 million households to watch the Conners, a working-class American family that resembled many of their own
'The person walking down the street minding their own business and they see someone clinging to their purse or walk across the street... or every Black parent I know who has a boy who has to sit down and have a conversation, the talk as we call it.'
Jarrett said that 'those ordinary examples of racism that happen every single day.'
Roseanne recently made headlines in declaring that she had been ostracized from President Donald Trump's inner circle despite providing the Commander-in-Chief with decades of loyal support.
'I'm on my own baby, I'm above all that s**t,' she said this past February after Trump shunned her to appoint Jon Voight, Sylvester Stallone and scandal-ridden Mel Gibson in the role of Special Ambassadors to represent Hollywood.
She told Variety, 'I'm not a party line person for anyone or anything except myself. The Trump staff or whoever runs it, they're a little afraid of me. I am a loudmouth comedian, so I understand it.'
