Roseanne Barr says former costar Sara Gilbert ‘stabbed me in the back’ and ‘repeatedly twisted’ the knife amid the cancellation of her sitcom in 2018
Roseanne Barr and Sara Gilbert were costars on the ABC series “Roseanne.” James Devaney / Getty Images / ABC / Robert Trachtenberg
Roseanne Barr is accusing her former “Roseanne” costar Sara Gilbert of having her ABC sitcom canceled, claiming that Gilbert “stabbed me in the back” and “repeatedly twisted” the knife.
In May 2018, Barr’s “Roseanne” revival was canceled by the network after she posted a racist tweet about Valerie Jarrett, a former adviser to President Barack Obama.
At the time, several celebrities spoke out against Barr’s offensive comments, including Gilbert, who played Barr’s daughter in the original series and the 2018 reboot.
Roseanne’s recent comments about Valerie Jarrett, and so much more, are abhorrent and do not reflect the beliefs of our cast and crew or anyone associated with our show. I am disappointed in her actions to say the least.
— sara gilbert (@THEsaragilbert) May 29, 2018
In a tweet on May 29, 2018, Gilbert said: “Roseanne’s recent comments about Valerie Jarrett, and so much more, are abhorrent and do not reflect the beliefs of our cast and crew or anyone associated with our show. I am disappointed in her actions to say the least.”
In an interview on SiriusXM’s “The Megyn Kelly Show” Wednesday, Barr said she was shocked by Gilbert’s response to the situation and blamed the actor — who also served as executive producer on the revival — for the show’s sudden cancellation.
Barr said that Gilbert “repeatedly twisted” the knife, and that it was “her tweet that canceled the show.”
The comedian went on that Gilbert “begged me to come back” to star in the 2018 reboot, which Gilbert produced, adding that Gilbert had assured her, “‘I’ve got your back this time. I won’t let anyone at you. I won’t let anyone hurt you. I’m gonna protect you.'”
“All the crap she told me and then she tweeted, ‘It’s sad when one cast member…’ something about racist blah blah, and I was floored. I was just floored,” said Barr.
Barr also told podcast host Megyn Kelly that she called Gilbert at the time and told her to stop talking about the situation on “The Talk,” the CBS daytime talk show that Gilbert created and co-hosts.
“It wasn’t enough that she stabbed me in the back, and did what she did to me there, but then she would go on her talk show every day and talk about how shocked she was at my racism on top of it,” Barr said.
“I called her up and I said, ‘You better shut your blanking mouth about me. I’m telling you, you better shut your effing mouth.’ And then she did, but, you know, my voice can be very scary.”
Representatives for ABC and Gilbert did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Amid the controversy, ABC decided to cancel “Roseanne” and launch a spinoff, “The Conners,” which has recently been renewed for a sixth season.
“The Conners” stars all the actors from “Roseanne” except Barr, and is also executive produced by Gilbert.
In the first episode, it was explained that Barr’s character, Roseanne, had died offscreen — something the actor felt was a “message” to her.
“They just tried to kill me, and I felt like they killed my character and my character,” Barr said. “I thought they were sending a message over the airwaves because they knew I had mental health issues. I thought they wanted me to kill myself, and all my friends did too. They said they’re trying to push you to suicide.”
Amid the backlash in 2018, Barr previously criticized Gilbert and her other costar Michael Fisherman for condemning her tweet, claiming that they were throwing her “under the bus.” She later tweeted that she forgave them, but a year later, Barr told the Washington Post that Gilbert “destroyed the show and my life with that tweet.”
