Roseanne says her character dies from an opioid overdose
Roseanne Barr described her TV character's demise from an opiod overdose as an "insult" to the people who loved the Conner family. Credit: Getty Images/Rachel Luna
Comedian Roseanne Barr, who was fired from the revival of her ABC sitcom "Roseanne" following a racist tweet in May, says her character's absence from the upcoming spinoff "The Conners" will be explained as due to an opioid overdose.
"Oh, they killed her," Barr said on right-wing podcaster Brandon Straka's "The Unsilent Majority" over the weekend. "They had her die of an . . . opioid overdose," explained the 65-year-old comedian of TV's blue-collar Illinois matriarch Roseanne Conner. "So it wasn't enough to just do what they did to me. They had to so cruelly insult the people who loved that family and that show. They had to cruelly insult them. And that's what they chose to do, so there's nothing I can do about it. It's done, it's over, there's no fight left. I did what I had to do to save my own life and I did it."
An ABC spokesman had no comment on Barr's description of the character's demise.
Barr on the podcast went on to complain about the show's writing staff last season, and said of the network, "I don't think they ever really wanted me to come back. They wanted that show and me to do what I was told. And as I've said from the beginning, I'm not that girl."
The spinoff continues to star John Goodman, Laurie Metcalf, Sara Gilbert, Lecy Goranson and Michael Fishman as the Conner family, which they first portrayed in the nine-season run from 1988 to 1997 and in the 2018 revival. "The Conners" premieres Oct. 16.
