Roseanne Barr ‘Still Praying For The Right Words’ For Valerie Jarrett Apology
Roseanne Barr says she wants to apologize to former presidential aide Valerie Jarrett but is praying to find the right words.
Barr lost her job in May after using racially charged language when referring to Valerie Jarrett, the former aide to previous president Barack Obama. Months after the cancellation of her show Roseanne, the 65-year-old comedian is reflecting about her bad judgement.
In her second interview with Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, Barr said she does want to apologize to Jarrett after publicly comparing her to an ape. However, Barr told Boteach that she is “still praying for the right words,” according to The Washington Post.
Barr seems to believe that there are no right words to say to make up for her offensive language towards Jarrett.
“The right words, to me, don’t really exist in the lexicon,” she said.
Barr initially compared Jarrett, a black woman born in Iran, to the “Muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes.” After Barr received backlash for her comments, she apologized to Jarrett and “all Americans.”
In her apology, Barr admitted that her comments were in poor taste. ABC Entertainment President Channing Dungey agreed and spoke out against the comedian when explaining why the Roseanne show would be canceled.
“Roseanne’s Twitter statement is abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values, and we have decided to cancel her show,” Dungey told Fox News.
Aside from the ABC president, Barr’s co-stars actor Michael Fisherman and actress Emma Kenney also publicly disagreed with her behavior via Twitter. Wanda Sykes, a consulting producer on the show, was one of the first to speak out by saying she would quit the show following Barr’s comments.
Jarrett previously spoke about Barr’s comments and suggested that people could learn from the incident.
“We have to turn it into a teaching moment,” Jarrett said on MSNBC’s town hall called “Everyday Racism In America” last month. “I’m fine. I’m worried about all the people out there who don’t have a circle of friends and followers who come right to their defense.”
While the reboot of Roseanne has been officially canceled, a spinoff is reportedly in the works. The upcoming sitcom tentatively titled The Conners will follow the family from the Roseanne show without the matriarch.
It is unclear how Barr will be written off of the sitcom, but the series is expected to make its debut in the fall according to Variety.
