Roseanne Barr slammed ABC in her return to the comedy stage, calling it a “[expletive] low-rated network.”
Barr starred in the “Roseanne” reboot on ABC. It was one of the most popular shows on television before it was axed following comments Barr made on Twitter that she was fired for.
She performed a surprise stand-up routine on March 16 at Laugh Factory Las Vegas, introduced by comedian Andrew Dice Clay.
Before welcoming her on stage, Clay said he was going to be joined by a close friend of decades.
Warning: Video contains crude language.
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“There haven’t been many as controversial, as outspoken or as [expletive] funny. Let’s hear it for Roseanne Barr!” he said, prompting applause from the crowd.
Barr wasted no time talking about what happened to her in the wake of the missive she posted on Twitter.
“Dear ABC, when you asked me back to once again bail out your [expletive], [expletive] low-rated network, I did so with the same vigor I’ve always rocked, and I delivered you the highest ratings you’ve had in 10 [expletive] years,” she said to applause. “At the first sign of controversy, you killed me off with a drug overdose,” she continued. “But you know what, I ain’t dead [expletive].”
After Barr was fired, ABC officially ended “Roseanne,” and started a version of the show that featured many of the same characters minus hers. The network “killed off” Roseanne’s character, Roseanne, in the first episode of “The Conners,” with writers having her die by overdosing on opioids.
Barr said that she did have suicidal thoughts after her ordeal but would never kill herself.
“When you get fired, you get real suicidal, but I’d never kill myself because that would make too many [expletive] people happy,” Barr quipped. “And I’m not about to make people happy.”
Clay responded by saying, “This is so great.” The two danced together on stage.
Before her appearance, Barr said in a YouTube video that she was “really scared” and “very nervous” about returning to stand-up comedy.
“I’m gonna talk about getting fired. I’m sure a lot of people relate to that,” she said.
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Clay took to Instagram after the performance, saying Barr “hadn’t been on stage since she got fired from ABC.”
“Last night made so many people laugh and they loved her!” he said. “We are the comedians of this crumbling world but we are human and sometimes screw up or things [get] taken the wrong way.”
“Our job tho is to keep you laughing amongst the kaos [sic] of a world going through pain,” he added. “She was nervous and afraid last night but once the audience laughed she was right back in the groove and crushed!! So proud of her.”
In another video posted on March 18, Clay said he planned to conduct more shows with Barr.
“You know what I’m gonna do? I’m gonna go out and do shows with Roseanne because I back her up, and she’s one of the greatest comics ever, just ever,” he said in the clip shared to Instagram. “I think of Joan Rivers, I think all the way back Lucille Ball, and then I think Roseanne Barr, OK? So that’s what we’re gonna do. You don’t like it, [expeltive] you.”
