In a new interview, Roseanne Barr has declared that former "Roseanne" co-star Sara Gilbert was responsible for the cancellation of the rebooted series in 2018.
Referring to a response Gilbert posted about Barr's own comments on Twitter, Barr told the Washington Post Thursday that Gilbert "destroyed the show and my life with that tweet."
Barr then made a reference to "The Silence of the Lambs," adding, "She will never get enough until she consumes my liver with a fine Chianti."
Untangling all of this requires going back to 2018, when the beloved "Roseanne" show that ran from 1988 to 1997 was rebooted for a 10th season, which reunited much of the original cast and premiered on March 27. On May 29, in a response to a Twitter thread, Barr tweeted — and then deleted — a racist comment about a former senior adviser to the Obama administration.
Amid the fallout, Barr deleted the tweet, but the damage was done: ABC canceled "Roseanne" (which was ultimately retooled as a Roseanne-free zone in "The Conners") and Barr's agents dropped her as a client.
Meanwhile, Gilbert, who played Barr's daughter Darlene on the show, tweeted that "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.”
On June 4, 2018, when Gilbert returned to her co-hosting slot on "The Talk," she added, "A lot of people have been hurt by this. I will say, I'm proud of the show we made. The show has always been about diversity, love, and inclusion, and it's sad to see it end in this way."
Others related to the show have now told the Post that the way the show ended upset them, too. Executive Producer Tom Werner said, "It's my belief that Roseanne is not a racist person ... although I find the tweet to be repugnant and racist."
"Roseanne"/"The Conners" co-star John Goodman also said the tweet was "stupid" and "incoherent," but that he does not think Barr is racist.
As for Gilbert, she told the Post that "while I'm extremely disappointed and heartbroken over the dissolution of the original show, she will always be family, and I will always love Roseanne."