Roseanne Barr apologizes for tweet, says she's a "creative genius"
LOS ANGELES — Roseanne Barr sat for her first TV interview since she was fired and had her ABC sitcom "Roseanne" canceled over a racist tweet. During the interview, Barr apologized for her "ill-worded" post and reiterated yet again that she is not a racist.
During her hour-long appearance on Sean Hannity's Fox News Channel show Thursday, Barr lamented the damage done to her by her tweet about Valerie Jarrett, a former adviser to President Barack Obama.
"It cost me everything," Barr said. "I wish I worded it better."
Hannity repeatedly urged Barr to apologize to Jarrett on air. The comedian eventually did, saying that she was sorry for the poorly worded tweet. She said she would tell Jarrett, "I'm sorry that you feel harm and hurt, I never meant that. I never meant to hurt anybody."
She repeated her assertion that she did not know Jarrett was black when she likened Jarrett to a cross between the Muslim Brotherhood and a "Planet of the Apes" actor.
Barr repeatedly said Thursday that her tweet was meant to address U.S.-Middle Eastern policy and had no racial overtones. She said she was stunned by the negative reaction to the tweet, which Hannity noted was nearly universal.
"I am a creative genius, and this is not a good feeling for an artist to be treated this way, and it's not a good feeling for a citizen, either," she said.
Despite apologizing at times, Barr also said she felt the tweet was being mischaracterized and she indicated she felt like she had apologized enough for her actions.
"I feel like I have apologized and explained and asked for forgiveness and made recompense," she said early in the interview. At another point, just before addressing Jarrett, Barr said, "I already have said I'm sorry for two months."
Barr, a supporter of President Donald Trump, brought him briefly into the conversation.
"I'm not a racist and the people who voted for Trump, they're not racist either, and Trump isn't a racist, sorry. We just have a different opinion," she said.
She said she could have fought ABC over her firing, but that she walked away from the hit reboot because she didn't want anybody to lose their jobs. She said her contract was supposed to allow her to correct any misstatements she made within 24 hours, but she wasn't given the opportunity.
Though Barr stayed relatively tame during her "Hannity" appearance, she has been fiery on her own YouTube channel and on social media. In a recent YouTube video, she screamed about Jarrett, "I thought the b***h was white!"
Barr has also been crying foul and tweeting about her "disgust" for people who defended "Guardians of the Galaxy" director James Gunn, who Disney fired over pedophilia and rape jokes he tweeted. She also said on her YouTube channel that ABC fired her because of her support of Mr. Trump.
"Now instead what happened, about 40 minutes after that, my show was canceled before even one advertiser pulled out, and I was labeled a racist," she said. "Why, you ask? Well, the answer is simple: Because I voted for Donald Trump, and that is not allowed in Hollywood."
The new version of "Roseanne" was an instant smash for ABC, owned by the Walt Disney Co., and was counted on to lead the network's fortunes next season.
Its debut episode last March was seen by more than 25 million people with delayed viewing counted in, numbers that are increasingly rare in network television.
ABC has announced that it will produce a "Roseanne" spinoff called "The Conners" that features John Goodman, Laurie Metcalf and Sara Gilbert.