The day after saying she was going to be interviewed, tweeting that she would soon reveal details, Roseanne Barr announced she will film her own interview.
And, in a case of perfect comedic timing, Barr timed her Twitter to 9:01 p.m. ET on Monday — the exact moment President Donald Trump took to the podium in the White House East Room to announce his nominee for the US Supreme Court to replace retiring Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy.
“After a lot of thought, I decided that I won’t be doing any TV interviews, too stressful & untrustworthy 4 me & my fans,” Barr wrote to her 891,000 Twitter followers. “I’m going to film it myself & post it on my youtube channel in the next week-the entire explanation of what happened & why! I love you all-sign up & get ready.”
Barr’s YouTube page currently has nearly 16,000 subscribers. She has not posted a video to the site in seven months.
On Sunday, she took to Twitter to thank “my wonderful fans who I treasure and love-who have carried me these past weeks when I was 2 weak 2 carry myself: I will be doing a TV interview this week. I’ll tell u about it tomorrow!”
It perhaps was not coincidental that Barr ginned up her news the same week Emmy nominations are being announced. Barr’s name was submitted in the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series derby. The submission had been made before ABC pulled the plug on the revival of her “Roseanne” — the network’s highest-rated and most-watched series of last season — after the comic/actress/exec producer launched racist and anti-Semitic tweets.
“Abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values,” ABC Entertainment chief Channing Dungey said in describing Barr’s Twitter statement when he announced the cancellation just days after Barr headlined the network’s upfront presentation.
Dungey’s statement came hours after Barr announced she was “leaving” Twitter — again — after apologizing for calling former President Barack Obama’s adviser Valerie Jarrett an offspring of the “Muslim Brotherhood & Planet of the Apes.” Barr came back to Twitter about five minutes later, to say, “I apologize to Valerie Jarrett and to all Americans … I am truly sorry for making a bad joke about her politics and her looks. I should have known better. Forgive me-my joke was in bad taste.”
Barr since has said she has received TV offers and there was one in particular she might accept. It’s unclear whether the now-scrapped-if-it-ever-existed TV interview was that “offer.”
Last month, the network gave a 10-episode series order to a Barr-less spinoff, “The Conners,” for this fall, taking the canceled comedy’s 8 p.m. Tuesday slot. In a statement, the network said, “’The Conners’ stories demonstrate that families can always find common ground through conversation, laughter and love. The spinoff will continue to portray contemporary issues that are as relevant today as they were 30 years ago.”
The series will feature the rest of the “Roseanne” revival cast.
Patrick Hipes contributed to this report.