Actress and comedian Roseanne Barr said the onus fell on her to play a Donald Trump supporter on the reboot of her show “Roseanne” because all the other actors refused to do so.
During an appearance on “The Glenn Beck Podcast,” Barr spoke about the reboot of the incredibly popular TV show that bears her name. The sitcom originally aired from 1988 to 1997 before returning during the Trump administration in 2018. Despite the massive viewership (18 million for the premiere), the rebooted show was canceled by the network for what was perceived as racist commentary by Barr.
“They hated Trump so bad,” Barr said of the Disney-owned ABC. “I thought, well, when they hear the facts — but then I knew, oh, it’s because they know the facts. That’s why they hate him.”
“But it was consistent with the show,” Beck retorted. “Donald Trump is the guy for the blue-collar worker.”
“Even if you personally didn’t like him, he’s the guy the Conner family would have supported,” the host added.
“Of course,” Barr explained. “That’s what I said.”
‘I wanted to show both sides still loving on each other in the same family, because that’s America.’
In the reboot, Barr portrayed a Trump supporter, while her sister was portrayed as a vehement liberal who even wore a pink “p**sy hat” worn by protesters at pro-abortion marches in real life.
However, the comedian revealed that she didn’t want her character to be the conservative person because it was too true to life.
“I didn’t want to be the one that was for Trump because I thought that was too on the head. I thought it should have been Dan Conner [John Goodman], because it was mostly working-class men that were [pro-Trump] at that time.”
“But he wouldn’t do it. John Goodman wouldn’t do it, and neither would any of the other characters on the show portray the Trump voter.”
For Barr, she felt there was a need to show that families with differing political opinions, as stark as they may be, can still get along.
“I wanted to show both sides still loving on each other in the same family, because that’s America. And maybe fighting about it, but certainly not trying to kill each other,” she explained.
“That’s why I came back, because I didn’t want to see America polarized like that. I knew [leftism] was leading to segregation.”
The 71-year-old also revealed that the network didn’t approve of showing an “integrated” working class.
“I also wanted to show that the working class is the most integrated class in America, and [ABC] hated all that too,” Barr told Beck.
Following Barr’s exodus, the sitcom was revamped into “The Conners,” which largely ignored the previous season. In the new show, the Roseanne character died of an accidental opioid overdose. According to People, the character was found to have a mixture of pills hidden in different places around the house.
The show is still on the air after six seasons, garnering an average of 9.5 million viewers in its first season and 7.7 million in the second season. The numbers have significantly dropped off but are still in the millions.
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Roseanne barr, Glenn beck, Trump, Abc, Disney, Politics, Entertainment