Jerry Seinfeld is weighing in on Roseanne Barr‘s firing from Roseanne in the wake of her racist tweet.
The Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee star got candid about the controversy on Monday, when he admitted to Entertainment Tonight about 65-year-old Barr’s dismissal from the ABC reboot, “I didn’t see why it was necessary to fire her.”
“Why would you murder someone who’s committing suicide?” said the Seinfeld alum.
“But I never saw someone ruin their entire career with one button push,” added Seinfeld, 64. “That was fresh.”
In Seinfeld’s opinion, Barr’s character shouldn’t have been scrapped; instead, she should have been replaced.
“I think they should get another Roseanne,” he advised. “They brought Dan Conner back, he was dead and they brought him back. So, why can’t we get another Roseanne?”
“There’s other funny women that could do that part. You need to get the comic in there,” said Seinfeld. “I hate to see a comic lose a job.”
ABC canceled Roseanne on May 29 after series creator and star Barr, who starred as wife and mother Roseanne Conner, shared (and then deleted) a tweet comparing former Barack Obama advisor Valerie Jarrett, who is black, to an ape.
Three weeks after ABC canceled the Roseanne reboot following Barr‘s racist tweet, PEOPLE confirmed the network has greenlit a spinoff with John Goodman, Laurie Metcalf, Sara Gilbert, Lecy Goranson and Michael Fishman returning.
ABC will air a 10-episode, straight-to-series order with the working title, The Conners, that will follow “the Conner family who, after a sudden turn of events, are forced to face the daily struggles of life in Lanford in a way they never have before.”
The synopsis continued, “This iconic family – Dan, Jackie, Darlene, Becky and D.J. – grapples with parenthood, dating, an unexpected pregnancy, financial pressures, aging and in-laws in working-class America. Through it all, the fights, the coupon cutting, the hand-me-downs, the breakdowns – with love, humor and perseverance, the family prevails.”
