John Goodman played Roseanne Barr’s husband on TV for over 10 years, but that changed after Barr made some questionable comments on Twitter in 2018.
Speaking about Barr now, Goodman expressed that he had some strong emotions about the circumstances of Barr’s firing from their show, but he does not know if those feelings would be enough to make him consider working with her again.
After playing Dan and Roseanne Conner on “Roseanne” from 1988 to 1998, Goodman and Barr agreed to do a reboot of the show with the same name. The nine-episode season aired from March through May 2018, but that summer, Barr made a series of racist comments about Valerie Jarrett, a former advisor to former President Obama, and she was fired from the show. Barr disputed the claims and apologized for making a “bad joke.”
Because the reboot was successful, the network made the decision to change the title from “Roseanne” to “The Conners,” and Barr’s disappearance was explained by an off-screen death. For Goodman, that was a difficult time.
JOHN GOODMAN SAYS ‘THE CONNERS’ IS ‘GREAT’ WITHOUT ROSEANNE BARR
John Goodman, left, and Roseanne Barr played husband and wife on “Roseanne” for several years. (Chelsea Lauren/Variety/Penske Media)
In an interview with The Sunday Times that same year, Goodman said, “I was surprised at the response. And that’s probably all I should say about that … I know for a fact that she’s not a racist.”
He added that she was “going through hell” because of the controversy.
In a conversation with Variety at the Monte-Carlo Television Festival last week, Goodman was asked if he had any regrets about those comments.
John Goodman shows off weight loss at the Monte-Carlo Television Festival. (VALERY HACHE/AFP)
“No,” he answered. “At the time I remember going to some kind of junket where they saw the pilot, and then the interviews, and it just turned into an attack. And that made me very uncomfortable with them just attacking Roseanne.”
He continued, “I felt bad for her. I just feel terrible about the whole thing. We had a great time. And I love her. She’s just her own person.”
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While he still loves her, it seems that he is not entirely comfortable with the thought of tying himself to her professionally again.
John Goodman, left, and Roseanne Conner appeared together in the 2018 “Roseanne” reboot. (© 2017 American Broadcasting Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.)
“I don’t know,” he replied when asked if he’d work with her now. “If she’d like to… I just don’t know. I miss her. I wish her well.”
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He also had some nice things to say about Barr’s contributions to the show now known as “The Conners.”
From left to right, Laurie Metcalf, Emma Kenney, Lecy Goranson, Sara Gilbert, Michael Fishman and John Goodman. (American Broadcasting Companies, Inc.)
“A lot of people have tied into the struggle of living paycheck to paycheck,” he said, referencing the Conner family’s blue collar problems that have been a staple of the show since its inception. “And we try to handle it with humor.”
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“Roseanne said something very early in the process: ‘Just because we’re poor doesn’t make us stupid.’ And I think that has a lot to say for the series, but it’s a struggle that’s handled with humor.”