Roseanne Barr thanks longtime co-star John Goodman ‘for speaking truth’

Roseanne Barr thanks longtime co-star John Goodman ‘for speaking truth’

August 29, 2018 by Ben Marquis

Kathy Hutchins / Shutterstock

Life has been hellacious for actress Roseanne Barr since ABC abruptly canceled her popular rebooted sitcom in the aftermath of a questionable and allegedly racist joke on Twitter about former President Barack Obama’s senior aide Valerie Jarrett.

Abandoned by her network, sponsors, the Hollywood crowd, and the mainstream media, Barr was left with only the support of her remaining fans and, apparently, former co-star John Goodman.
Barr tweeted on Monday:

Support from Goodman
Barr’s tweet was in reference to a recent interview her friend and co-star John Goodman did with The U.K. Sunday Times, in which he clearly disputed the characterization of Barr as a racist.
“I was broken-hearted, but I thought, ‘OK, it’s just show business, I’m going to let it go.’ But I went through a period, about a month, where I was very depressed,” Goodman said of learning of the cancellation of the show. “I’m a depressive anyway, so any excuse that I can get to lower myself, I will. But that had a great deal to do with it, more than I wanted to admit.”
As to the intense reaction to Barr’s single tweet, Goodman said: “I was surprised. I’ll put it this way, I was surprised at the response.”

He went on to note that “that’s probably all I should say about it.” After a long pause, he added: “I know, I know, for a fact, that she’s not a racist.”
The show goes on without Barr
Goodman spoke of ABC’s intention to continue the show without Barr — rebranding it as “The Conners,” with Barr’s character killed off — and spoke of other projects he is working on, as well as if he has remained in contact with Barr since the show was canceled.
“She had to sign a paper saying that she relinquished all her rights to the show so that we could go on,” Goodman said. “I sent her an email and thanked her for that. I did not hear anything back, but she was going through hell at the time. And she’s still going through hell.”

John Goodman and Roseanne Barr have been “work friends” for the better part of three decades, so if any of Barr’s former co-stars and friends have any insight into who she truly is as an individual, it would be Goodman.
He could have joined with the conventional thinking of the network and chastised Barr for her “racist” tweet, or even just remained silent and offered no comment on the issue, but he instead spoke out in defense of her true non-racist self, earning Barr’s gratitude and appreciation for standing in her defense when he most certainly didn’t have to.