SALT LAKE CITY — Roseanne Barr gave her first public TV interview since her ABC sitcom was canceled in May, speaking with Sean Hannity on Fox News on Thursday night.
Barr said her racist tweet against former President Barack Obama advisor Valerie Jarrett was “ill-worded” and that it severely damaged her career, according to Time magazine.
“It cost me everything,” Barr said. “I wish I worded it better.”
Hannity continuously pushed Barr to apologize in the interview. She said she was sorry she worded the tweet wrong and then explained what she would tell Jarrett in person, according to People magazine
“I didn’t know she was African-American. I assumed because she was from Iran and she lived in Iran for such a long time,” she said. “If she’s watching, I’m so sorry you thought I was racist and you thought that my tweet was racist because it wasn’t. It was political. I’m sorry for the misunderstanding that caused my ill-worded tweet. I’m sorry that you feel harmed and hurt, I never meant that. For that, I apologize. I never meant to hurt anybody or say anything negative about an entire race of people. My 30 years of work can attest to that.”
She added, “Plus, I’d tell her she needs to get a new haircut.”
“I’m sorry that you feel harm and hurt, I never meant that. I never meant to hurt anybody.”
She said she didn’t know Jarrett was black when she made her tweet in which she called Jarrett a “Planet of the Apes” actor. Instead, she said her tweet had no racist agenda and she wanted to address U.S. Middle Eastern policy, CNN reported.
Barr said she hopes to make the controversy a teaching moment for people.
“Let’s talk about it. Let’s really turn this into a teachable moment. We need to talk about race and everything that’s connected to it. Her skin tone is like mine, and I’m brown,” Barr said.
She said she’s not racist and neither are Trump supporters.
“I’m not a racist, and the people who voted for Trump, they’re not racist either, and Trump isn’t a racist, sorry. We just have a different opinion,” she said.
She said, "I want people to like me. I don't want them to hate me."
Barr’s interview comes two months after ABC canceled the recently revived “Roseanne.” The network announced the creation of “The Conners,” a spinoff show connected directly to the show’s family, will drop later this year.
Barr won’t make any money from that show.
She has previously spoken out in interviews with Rabbi Shmuley Boteach and herself. That’s right. She posted an interview on her YouTube channel in which she appeared by herself and apologized to Jarrett.