Roseanne Barr Blames God for 2018 Tweet That Ended Her Career
Roseanne Barr Says God Told Her to Post Tweet That Ended Her Career
Comedian and actress Roseanne Barr is once again making headlines—this time for claiming that divine intervention was behind the tweet that led to the downfall of her career.
In a new interview with Variety, the 72-year-old star said she believes God compelled her to post the now-infamous 2018 message about Valerie Jarrett, a former senior advisor to President Barack Obama.
The tweet, widely condemned as racist, compared Jarrett to a character from Planet of the Apes and sparked immediate backlash, ultimately resulting in the cancellation of her hit ABC sitcom Roseanne.
“The way I feel about it is God told me to do what I did, and it was a nuclear bomb,” Barr said, reflecting on the moment. She added that she had been plagued by anxiety and nightmares about returning to her role on Roseanne when she felt a divine nudge to act.
Upon waking and seeing a meme that likened Jarrett to Helena Bonham Carter’s character in Planet of the Apes, Barr said she captioned it on impulse.
The tweet read: “muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby = vj.”
While Barr has previously apologized, blamed the incident on being under the influence of Ambien and alcohol, and insisted she didn’t know Jarrett is Black, she now stands firm in defending the post.
“It was a perfect caption,” she insisted, denying it was racist and arguing that others misconstrued her meaning.
“Other people were so racist that they thought my tweet said Black people look like monkeys—when it was about Planet of the Apes, which is a movie about fascism,” she claimed.
“Rod Serling himself said it’s about the Jews in Germany. It is not a movie about Black people.”
Barr also argued the tweet had a political motive: “Over 2 million Americans Googled Valerie Jarrett and the Iran deal after that tweet. That was my intent. So whatever.”
ABC swiftly canceled Roseanne in response to the controversy and rebranded the show as The Conners, killing off Barr’s character via an opioid overdose.
In the interview, Barr criticized the network’s handling of the situation, calling it “stupid and shortsighted,” and said she felt “pissed off” about losing her creative and contractual rights.
She also expressed regret about previously apologizing: “When I apologized, it only got worse.”
Barr has, over the years, placed blame on various people for her career collapse, including former co-star Sara Gilbert, who publicly condemned the tweet in 2018.
In a 2019 interview, Barr accused Gilbert of betraying her, saying, “She destroyed the show and my life with that tweet.”
Despite years of fallout, Barr’s latest comments suggest she continues to see the incident not as a mistake—but as a moment of divine purpose.
Roseanne Barr Blames God for 2018 Tweet That Ended Her Career