John Goodman continues to stand by former “Roseanne” co-star Roseanne Barr’s side.
A “Roseanne” revival was canceled by ABC in 2018 hours after Barr made racist comments on Twitter about former President Barack Obama’s White House advisor Valerie Jarrett.
Despite the immediate backlash, Goodman defended his co-star at the time, telling the Sunday Times, “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.”
In an interview with Variety published Sunday, “The Conners” star said he has “no” regrets about speaking up for Barr.
“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 attack. And that made me very uncomfortable with them just attacking Roseanne,” Goodman recalled. “I felt bad for her.”
John Goodman and Roseanne Barr were to star in the “Roseanne” revival in 2018, but racist tweets from the titular character prompted the show’s cancelation.
He added: “I just feel terrible about the whole thing. We had a great time. And I love her. She’s just her own person.”
As for whether or not he would act with Barr again, Goodman said, “I don’t know. If she’d liked to… I just don’t know. I miss her. I wish her well.”
Barr thanked Goodman at the time for “for speaking truth about me, despite facing certain peril from producers and network.”
“Roseanne” returned to ABC in March 2018, two decades after it ended its first run from 1988 to 1997, reuniting the original cast including Goodman, Laurie Metcalf and Sara Gilbert.
John Goodman and Roseanne Barr attended the premiere of ABC’s “Roseanne” before the show was canceled.
The show’s spinoff “The Conners” aired later that year, focusing on the family after the series killed off Barr’s character Roseanne.
‘The Conners’:John Goodman says Roseanne Barr is ‘really missed’ on set
Barr made several apologies on social media following the cancelation of “Roseanne.”
“It was 2 in the morning and I was ambien tweeting was memorial day too-i went 2 far & do not want it defended-it was egregious Indefensible,” Barr tweeted. “I made a mistake I wish I hadn’t but…don’t defend it, please. ty.”
She also issued an additional apology to Jarrett, tagging her in a tweet. “@ValerieJarrett i don’t know if u saw it, but I wanted to apologize to you for hurting and upsetting u with an insensitive & tasteless tweet,” Barr wrote. “I am truly sorry- my whole life has been about fighting racism. I made a terrible mistake that caused hundreds of ppl 2 lose their jobs. so sorry!”
Background: Inside Roseanne Barr’s history of offensive tweets
“Don’t feel sorry for me, guys!!” she wrote in a separate post. “I just want to apologize to the hundreds of people, and wonderful writers (all liberal) and talented actors who lost their jobs on my show due to my stupid tweet.”
Barr also took a social media break, because she didn’t want to hurt her iconic show’s return to television.
“I had to get off there because everybody was mad at me. I’m not doing any more politics. I don’t want to get anyone mad at me,” she told USA TODAY at the time. “I’ll try to find another way to say what is important to me.”
