Roseanne: I 'Begged Like 40 Motherf---ers' to Keep Show

Comedian tweets out conversation she says she had with ABC's Ben Sherwood
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 1, 2018 6:23 AM CDT
Roseanne: I 'Begged Like 40 Motherf---ers' to Keep Show
In this April 8, 2014, file photo, Roseanne Barr arrives at the NBCUniversal Summer Press Day in Pasadena, Calif.   (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, File)

Roseanne Barr apologized publicly on Twitter for her racist tweet directed at ex-Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett, but she's now revealing what she says went on behind the scenes before her firing from ABC. Per CNN, the 65-year-old comedian returned Thursday to the social media platform she'd said she was quitting to offer more details on the fallout, saying she'd pleaded with Disney/ABC Television Group President Ben Sherwood to keep Roseanne on the air. "I begged Ben Sherwood at ABC 2 let me apologize & make amends," she said in a now-deleted tweet. "I begged them not to cancel the show. I told them I was willing to do anything & asked 4 help in making things right. I'd worked doing publicity 4 them 4 free for weeks, traveling, thru bronchitis. I begged 4 ppls jobs."

She even noted just how hard she'd made her case, per Fox News: "I begged like 40 motherf---ers." Sherwood's response, per Roseanne: "What were you thinking when you did this?" She says she answered that. "I said: I thought she was white, she looks like my family!" She says he responded by calling her remark against Jarrett "egregious and unforgivable." In another deleted tweet, Barr said she was trying to get phone numbers for Jarrett (as well as for Michelle Obama and George Soros, apparently) to apologize personally. Deadline and the Hollywood Reporter say they've reached out to ABC for confirmation on this conversation between Barr and Sherwood, but they haven't heard back yet. (President Trump weighed in on the controversy.)

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