Roseanne Barr Makes Controversial Jokes About Suicide in First Stand-Up Set Since ABC Firing
Roseanne Barr was back onstage over the weekend for her first stand-up comedy set since making racist comments that led ABC to cancel her Roseanne reboot last May.
The comedian, 66, appeared alongside fellow comic Andrew Dice Clay at the Laugh Factory in Las Vegas on Saturday.
In her set, Barr made a series of controversial jokes — beginning with a dark remark about suicide.
“When you get fired you get real suicidal. But I’d never kill myself because that would make too many f—ing people happy. And I’m not about making people happy,” she said, according to a video that the Laugh Factory posted on Vimeo.
She then read an expletive-filled letter directed at ABC, claiming the network ignored her show’s success, both in its original form (it aired on ABC from 1998 until 1997) and in its 2018 reincarnation. She also slammed their decision to re-launch the sitcom as The Connors. in October by killing off her character with an opiate overdose.
“Dear ABC. When you asked me back to once again bail out your s—, f—ing low-rated network, I did so with the same vigor I’ve always rocked and I delivered you the highest ratings that you had in 10 f—ing years,” Barr said. “At the first sign of controversy, you killed me off with a drug overdose. But you know what, I ain’t dead, bitches.”
At the end of her set, Barr danced with Clay, 61. ABC has yet to respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
RELATED: Roseanne Speaks Out After Being Killed Off on The Conners Premiere: ‘I Ain’t Dead, Bitches’
Trouble for Barr started back in May when she wrote and then deleted a racist post about Barack Obama‘s former adviser Valerie Jarrett. Barr tweeted, “Muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby=vj,” and she retweeted a number of conspiracy theories.
ABC quickly dropped the revival of Roseanne, which was the no. 1 scripted series of the season. “Roseanne’s Twitter statement is abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values, and we have decided to cancel her show,” Channing Dungey, then president of ABC Entertainment, said in a statement.
During the fallout, Barr claimed that she was using Ambien that caused her to tweet and that she did not know that Jarrett is black.
She later tweeted “I’m not dead, bitch” during the premiere airing of The Connors, which delivered 10.5 million viewers — nearly 8 million less than when Roseanne returned on ABC the previous March.
A post shared by Andrew Dice Clay (@andrewdiceclay) on Mar 17, 2019 at 1:47pm PDT
It appears Barr’s set with Clay is the first of many the two have planned together.
In a video posted to Instagram on Monday, Clay defended Roseanne, comparing the backlash she’s received to the same that got him banned from MTV back in the ’80s.
“You know what I’m gonna do? I‘m gonna go out and do shows with Roseanne because I back her up,” Clay said. “She’s one of the greatest comics ever, just ever. I think of Joan Rivers, I think all the way back Lucille Ball, and then I think Roseanne Barr, okay? So that’s what we’re gonna do. You don’t like it, f— you.”
He also praised her in the caption of an Instagram photo of the two on Sunday, taken as they hugged at the Laugh Factory.
“[Roseanne] hasn’t been on stage since she got fired from ABC and last night made so many people laugh,” Clay wrote. “They love her. We are the comedians of this crumbling world, but we are human and sometimes screw up or things [are] taken the wrong way!!! Our job though is to keep you laughing amongst the chaos of the world going through pain.”
“She was nervous and afraid last night,” Clay added. “But once the audience laughed… she was right [in] the groove and crushed!!! So proud of her.”
RELATED: Roseanne Barr Says President Trump Called and Congratulated Her on Revival’s Premiere Ratings
Prior to taking the stage, Barr posted a video to her YouTube page, saying that she was “really scared” and “very nervous” about returning to stand-up.
“I’m going to go out and do stand-up in a friend’s show tonight,” she said. “I’m nervous because I haven’t been on stage since my witch burning. I’m going to talk about getting fired. I’m sure a lot of people relate to that. But I am nervous so I’m making a mental note to it here, saying a lot of prayers.”
“Hey, say prayers for me that I don’t flake out,” she said. “I hope I don’t flake out.”
If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), text “home” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 or go to suicidepreventionlifeline.org.
