Tim Allen Breaks His Silence on Roseanne Barr's Firing: 'She's Just Not That Person'
Tim Allen has spoken out in defense of the Roseanne Barr he once knew.
“I go away back with Rosie and that’s not the Rosie I know,” Allen, 65, told reporters Thursday at the Television Critics Association’s press tour when asked about Roseanne’s firing from ABC in May over her racist tweet comparing Valerie Jarrett to an ape.
“She was the most diverse and tolerant woman I’ve ever known for a long time. Whatever got in her head, isn’t the Roseanne I know.
“It’s a very icy time. I’m a veteran comedian for 38 years and I’ve never seen it, like Lenny Bruce said at the Purple Onion, ‘We’ve gone backwards.’ There are things you can’t say. There are things you shouldn’t say,” Allen continued.
“Who makes up these rules? And as a stand-up comic, it’s a dangerous position to be in because I like pushing buttons. It’s unfortunate,” Allen added.
However, when it comes to ABC’s decision to cancel Roseanne, Allen said, “They had to do what they had to do and it’s their decision.”
In addition to being friends and fellow comedians, Allen can certainly relate to Barr considering his own conservative ABC show Last Mind Standing, a series about a traditional American father and his family in Denver, Colorado, was canceled after six seasons in 2017.
“I’ve worked for ABC for years… I don’t really believe it was a political decision. I think it was a financial decision… I thought it was done very poorly, that’s my point of view. I was heartbroken,” Allen said Thursday.
Last Man Standing has since been brought back by Fox.
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Allen isn’t the only celebrity to come to Barr’s defense. Mo’Nique, 50, showed her support for the disgraced comedian on KTLA Friday July 27.
“Roseanne Barr is my sister in comedy and she is my universal sister and what I won’t do… is throw her away for making a mistake,” Mo’Nique told the show.
“We’ve all said and done things, baby, that we wish we could take back… but when you’re in the public eye, you can’t,” Mo’Nique explained on KTLA.
Barr recently spoke out on the issue during an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity on July 26. “I’ve apologized a lot. It’s been two months. I’ve apologized and explained and asked for forgiveness,” Barr said.
