Roseanne Barr blasts Hollywood saying she lost 'everything' following ape tweet

Roseanne Barr has spoken out about losing 'everything' after she posted a tweet that saw her show canceled.

The star's popular sitcom Roseanne originally ran from 1988 to 1997, and was renewed in March 2018.

However, just two months later, it was abruptly axed after the 70-year-old posted a racist tweet about former Obama administration official Valerie Jarrett, in which she compared Jarrett to an ape.

Barr said she thought Jarrett was white, but ABC canceled the show, branding the tweet 'abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values'.

Now the actor, writer and comedian is hitting back.

Speaking to the Los Angeles Times, she said: "They didn't do it to anyone else in Hollywood, although they always throw in Dave Chappelle and Louis C.K.

"Well, Louis C.K. did lose everything, but he committed an actual [offense]. And Dave Chappelle was protected by Netflix.

LANDMARK MEDIA / Alamy Stock Photo

"I'm the only person who's lost everything, whose life's work was stolen, stolen by people who I thought loved me.

"And there was silence. There was no one in Hollywood really defending me publicly, except for [fellow comedian] Mo'nique, who is a brave, close, dear friend."

Asked if it had a devastating impact on her life, she replied: "It was. I would die many times.

"I guess you would call it the dark night of the soul. I felt like the devil himself was coming against me to try to tear me apart, to punish me for believing in God."

She continued: "And they denied me the right to apologize. Oh my God, they just hated me so badly. I had never known that they hated me like that.

"They hate me because I have talent, because I have an opinion.

"Even though Roseanne became their No. 1 show, they'd rather not have a No. 1 show."

Barr has now returned to her roots performing stand-up and has come out of the other side.

Richard Levine / Alamy Stock Photo

As for whether she feels betrayed by her former sitcom colleagues, she responded: "I can't know what they think or feel. I don't know why they did what they did. I'm not like them. I realized that.

"I can't believe what they did, with all the pain that I went through to bring the show back. And it didn't faze them to murder my character, either.

"They s*** on my contribution to television and the show itself. But I forgive everybody.

"I started thinking that God took me out of there to save me. And once I started thinking that way, I was, like, a lot better off."

She added: "I've survived. I've come out on the other side of it, finally. But it was a witch-burning. And it was terrifying."

Topics: Celebrity, Film and TV, Twitter

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey