John Goodman, Sara Gilbert and Laurie Metcalf Reveal When They First Learned of Roseanne Barr's Racist Tweet

John Goodman, Sara Gilbert and Laurie Metcalf will revive their Roseanne characters in the series premiere of the ABC spinoff, The Conners, on October 16. The new show comes following canceling of Roseanne and the firing of the show's namesake star, Roseanne Barr.

Barr was axed by the network after writing racist remarks about President Barack Obama's former senior advisor Valerie Jarrett on Twitter in May. The comment sparked immediate outrage on social media, causing ABC to pull the plug on Roseanne after only one season despite stellar ratings.

However, the event prompted a new opportunity to explore the iconic Conner family without their controversial matriarch after the cast received an outpour of support from viewers, thus resulting in the upcoming premiere of The Conners.

"There was the feeling of not wanting it to go away until we were ready," John Goodman, who starred on Roseanne as Bar's husband Dan Conner, said during an interview with People magazine released Wednesday. "There was a debt owed to this fictional family. We want to finish telling this story."

Goodman, 66, along with cast members Sara Gilbert and Laurie Metcalf, all of whom appeared on the original Roseanne's run from 1988 to 1997, spoke with People magazine about the new spinoff and where they were when they first learned of Barr's tweet.

Goodman recalled his wife and daughter breaking the news of Barr's tweet while they were in his kitchen. "It just didn't seem true. Then it got true. I was consciously trying to accept it," he said.

Metcalf, who portrays Barr's sister Jackie on the shows, was in New York City for her Broadway performance. The actor, 63, said she found out about Barr's tweet "on the news, actually."

"I [first] thought, 'Oh, I wonder if we still have a show.'" Because of how heavy everything became," she revealed, adding when Roseanne was finally canceled she had "to reconcile myself to the show being gone."

She continued: "You know, coming off such a high, it was hard to wrap our heads around."

As for Gilbert, who plays as the daughter of Barr and Goodman, Becky, the 43-year-old said she didn't "remember too much" about the day the tweet went viral. "It was more just, 'Okay, what are we dealing with today?' I was kind of taking things one step at a time as they came," she said.

Despite losing their jobs initially, Goodman said he remained hopeful the series would somehow survive. "It was so unbelievable to do this show and it was like easy come, easy go," he said.

ABC announced the show's revival but through The Conners format over the summer. Barr agreed to hand over creative ties of the show and she will not profit off of the new series in any way. It was revealed The Conners will premiere having killed off the motherly Conner and picks up in the aftermath of her death.

"Any sadness that we feel over what we've lost we're hopefully channeling in an honest way into the show," Gilbert said. "And our show has always been able to deal with heavy topics, particularly for a sitcom. It's been kind of built into the mix."

Uncommon Knowledge

Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

About the writer


Michigan native, Janice Williams is a graduate of Oakland University where she studied journalism and communication. Upon relocating to New ... Read more

To read how Newsweek uses AI as a newsroom tool, Click here.

Newsweek cover
  • Newsweek magazine delivered to your door
  • Newsweek Voices: Diverse audio opinions
  • Enjoy ad-free browsing on Newsweek.com
  • Comment on articles
  • Newsweek app updates on-the-go
Newsweek cover
  • Newsweek Voices: Diverse audio opinions
  • Enjoy ad-free browsing on Newsweek.com
  • Comment on articles
  • Newsweek app updates on-the-go