Jimmy Kimmel’s back — but Roseanne Barr says she’s still canceled. The longtime comedian is blasting ABC over the late night host’s swift return to TV, claiming ABC gave him preferential treatment she never received.
“I got my whole life ruined, no forgiveness and all of my work stolen and called a racist for time and eternity,” Barr told NewsNationon September 23. “It just shows how they think. It’s a double standard.”
As the National Enquirer previously reported, Kimmel, 57, was suspended last week after catching heat for comments related to Charlie Kirk’s death, but returned to ABCon September 23. Still, major affiliates owned by Nexstar Media Group and Sinclair Broadcast Group refused to air his show.
But Barr’s situation was drastically different. ABC canceled the reboot of her hit sitcom Roseanne in May 2018 after she tweeted that former Barack Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett, who is Black, was a product of “Planet of the Apes” and the “Muslim Brotherhood.” Roseanne was the network’s most-watched series at the time.
Getty Images
During the podcast, Barr, 72, also called out Kimmel’s past controversies, including his blackface sketches on Comedy Central’s The Man Show, for which he apologized in 2020.
Since her cancellation, Barr says she’s essentially been blacklisted in Hollywood while Kimmel gets what she sees as a slap on the wrist.
The original Roseanne ran nine seasons from 1988 to 1997 and was widely considered one of the finest sitcoms ever created. After Barr’s firing, the show was rebranded The Conners and continued for seven more seasons without her.
“I’ve been erased from history, from the history of feminism, which, that cracks me up,” Barr told NewsNation. “I’m never mentioned in anything about women who are pioneers in media. I’m never mentioned in anything anymore.”