The queen of blue-collar comedy, Roseanne Barr, had made a triumphant return to primetime television on ABC in 2018 after a hiatus of two decades.
Her comeback was met with soaring ratings and even a congratulatory call from then-President Donald Trump. However, her career resurgence was abruptly halted by a controversial tweet about Valerie Jarrett, a former advisor to Barack Obama.
Barr had tweeted a comment suggesting that Jarrett, who is of African-American descent, looked like the offspring of the 'Muslim brotherhood and Planet of the Apes.' Barr maintains that she was unaware of Jarrett's racial background when she made the comment.
The backlash was swift and severe, with the cancel culture mob demanding retribution. ABC executives responded by cancelling the 'Roseanne' reboot and condemning Barr's comment as 'abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values.'
In an exclusive interview with the Daily Mail, Barr claimed that her fall from grace was orchestrated by liberal-leaning ABC executives who were uncomfortable with her populist views and outspoken support for Trump.
"They were waiting for me to slip up," she said. "They spied. They monitored everything I did. They wanted to censor me from the very beginning."
According to the Daily Mail, Barr will discuss her clash with cancel culture in an upcoming documentary titled 'Roseanne Barr is America', directed by conservative filmmaker Joel Gilbert. The cancellation of her hit sitcom was unprecedented, especially considering its high ratings. However, Bob Iger, chief executive of the Walt Disney Company, ABC's parent corporation, defended the decision, stating: "There was only one thing to do here, and that was the right thing."
Barr offered various explanations for her controversial tweet about Jarrett, who was born in Iran to African-American parents. She initially blamed her lack of judgment on 'Ambien tweeting', a reference to her habit of tweeting late at night after taking prescription medication for insomnia. However, she now insists that her comment was not racially motivated but was a critique of Jarrett's role in Obama's Iran nuclear deal, which Barr, a vocal supporter of Israel, strongly opposed.
"I'm not stupid. I would never refer to a black person as the product of an ape," she said. "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's regret is not the tweet itself but her subsequent apology. "The worst mistake you can do is apologize to the left. Then they are on a crusade against you," she said. "Once you admit a mistake, they will keep on until you're dead."
Barr's battle against left-wing ideology has spanned seven decades. Born to Jewish parents in Salt Lake City, Utah, in 1952, she was the eldest of four siblings. After a car accident at age 16 resulted in a brain injury, Barr's behavior changed dramatically. She began drinking, smoking, and skipping school, leading her family to commit her to a state mental institution for over eight months.
Barr's career in comedy began with stand-up gigs in biker bars, jazz clubs, and Unitarian churches. She eventually made her way to LA's Comedy Store and appeared on the Tonight Show in 1985. Her sitcom, Roseanne, debuted in 1988 and quickly became a hit, drawing in 21.4 million households. However, behind the scenes, Barr clashed with male writers who she felt were toning down her progressive humor.
Despite the highs and lows of her career, Barr remained a prominent figure in the entertainment industry. She hosted her own talk show, hosted Saturday Night Live, and embarked on a world comedy tour with several HBO specials. In 2012, she ran for president as a 'loudmouth socialist', pledging to slap Nancy Pelosi, the then-Democrat speaker of the House of Representatives, in the face.
Barr's support for Donald Trump in the 2016 election was met with disbelief. "They couldn't believe I wasn't voting for Hillary Clinton," she said. "It was vaginal politics. It made me sick."
When Barr agreed to reboot her sitcom in 2017, she wanted to address the growing political divide head-on. However, her outspoken tweets began to unsettle the network bosses at ABC, who she refers to as the 'LGBTQ+CIA mafia' in Gilbert's film.
Despite the controversy and cancellation, Barr has bounced back with a successful podcast and plans for a new sitcom. She now lives on a ranch outside Austin, Texas, with her son Jake, his wife, and their two daughters.
Barr teamed up with Gilbert to spread the message that there is life after cancellation. "They'll never get me. They'll never take me down because I'm smarter and funnier than they are. And that's the undercurrent of the documentary: you can't destroy someone who doesn't submit."
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