Comedian Roseanne Barr is back in the spotlight again and speaking candidly about getting fired from the revival of her ABC sitcom "Roseanne" in May 2018. She said that killing off her character Roseanne Barr was a "message" that unnamed former coworkers at ABC "did want me to commit suicide."
"I've survived. I've come out on the other side of it, finally. But it was a witch-burning. And it was terrifying," she told Los Angeles Times reporter Greg Braxton in advance of her new stand-up special, "Cancel This!" which premiers on Fox Nation on Monday.
Barr's sitcom was taken off the air following a tweet she wrote that compared Barack Obama's adviser Valerie Jarrett to an ape. "Muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby=vj," the post read.
A spinoff of the show called "The Conners" premiered on ABC in October 2018 and is currently in the middle of its fifth season. It follows members of the Conner family after the death of their fictional matriarch, Roseanne Conner, who was played by Barr.
"I guess you would call it the dark night of the soul. I felt like the devil himself was coming against me to try to tear me apart, to punish me for believing in God," Barr told the Times, reflecting on the consequences she faced. She said she thought ABC "hated" her and claimed she wasn't allowed to apologize on the show.
"I'm the only person who's lost everything, whose life's work was stolen, stolen by people who I thought loved me," Barr said, comparing the cancellation of her show and the friends she lost after the controversy to other polarizing comedians, like Dave Chappelle and Louis C.K.
As for her former "Roseanne" costars like Laurie Metcalf, Sara Gilbert, and John Goodman, who played members of her family and went on to star in "The Conners," she said: "They shit on my contribution to television and the show itself. But I forgive everybody. I started thinking that God took me out of there to save me."
Barr is also upset that, in her opinion, it didn't "faze" any of her former coworkers to "murder" Roseanne Barr on-screen (in season one of "The Conners," it's explained that Roseanne died off-screen of an opioid overdose).
"When they killed my character off, that was a message to me, knowing that I'm mentally ill or have mental health issues, that they did want me to commit suicide," Barr said. "They killed my character, and my character."
If you or someone you know is experiencing depression or has had thoughts of harming themself or taking their own life, get help. In the US, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, which provides 24/7, free, confidential support for people in distress, as well as best practices for professionals and resources to aid in prevention and crisis situations. Help is also available through the Crisis Text Line — just text "HOME" to 741741. The International Association for Suicide Prevention offers resources for those outside the US.
