What Happened to Roseanne Barr?

Last Updated on June 22, 2023

On July 25th, 1990, as Roseanne Barr and Tom Arnold flew high above Jack Murphy Stadium, the San Diego Padres waited to face the Cincinnati Reds in the last of a four-game homestand. But before they would take the field, they would be graced with the presence of one of TV’s biggest stars performing the American National Anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner.” As the helicopter neared, Arnold looked over the crowd of more than 25,000 and tried to convince his wife that maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. Soon before the first pitch, Roseanne belted her take on Francis Scott Key’s anthem, spit on the field and grabbed her crotch. It would be her most controversial moment…until decades later…

Let’s find out: WTF Happened to…ROSEANNE BARR?

But to truly understand what the fuck happened to Roseanne Barr, we go back to the beginning. And the beginning began when she was born on November 3rd, 1952, in Salt Lake City. She starting her standup career in the early 1980s, turning up at LA’s famed Comedy Store before appearances on Late Night and alongside Rodney Dangerfield. She quickly earned respect and made a name for herself by appearing on Johnny Carson. Giving a loud humorous voice to American housewives everywhere who were finally able to see someone they could relate to on a comedy stage. By 1987, she earned an American Comedy Award nomination for Best Newcomer; the following year, her first special won her Funniest Female Performer in a TV Special. From there, Barr was on her way…to Married… With Children? Actually, Roseanne turned down that sitcom (alongside Sam Kinison) to play her own “domestic goddess” on…yup, Roseanne.

This was a landmark series Roseanne, premiered on October 18th, 1988 to more than 21 million viewers. But Roseanne was immediately pissed off, as she wasn’t named as a creator despite, you know, creating the character. She and credited “creator” Matt Williams clashed outright to the point where he kept track of how often she farted in front of the audience to get her canned. In the end, it was William who got booted, giving Roseanne even more freedom– although she herself wasn’t exactly a class act, even referring to her writers by number and not by name. The first season earned Golden Globe nominations for the show and Roseanne. Through its seasons, Roseanne proved to be simply groundbreaking, tackling issues like poverty, domestic violence, alcoholism more.

in 1991, Roseanne made claims that she was an incest survivor and was abused by her parents but decades later she would recant those horrific allegations saying she was under the influence of drug when she made the claim.

The success led to her first movie, 1989’s She-Devil, and she’s actually pretty damn effective in it as a housewife seeking revenge on Meryl Streep’s renowned novelist. That’s right, Roseanne and Meryl Streep shared the screen…Barr was given more TV exposure, with the animated Little Rosey (1990) based on her childhood and its spinoff The Rosey and Buddy Show (1992). In 1990, Barr used her voice again for Look Who’s Talking Too, earning a Razzie nod she “lost” to Sofia Coppola…Earlier that year, she married Tom Arnold–just four days after divorcing her first husband–who was also writing for her show. But the worst affront of 1990 would come on July 25th and her infamous rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner”, which then-president Bush called “disgraceful” and Barr said got Little Rosey canceled.

In 1991, Barr-nold co-starred in TV movie Backfield in Motion and cameoed together in Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare. Around that time, Barr faced another dispute over the show, this time from her own sister who unsuccessfully sued for $70 million over breach of contract and the alleged development of the “domestic goddess.” The same year she hd a small role in Gus Van Sant’s Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (1993), Barr finally won Golden Globes and Emmys for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series. In 1994, she divorced Tom Arnold, sparing the world from their children. That same year, Barr came out as having dissociative identity disorder, with multiple personalities with names like Susan, Kevin and F*cker.

By the middle of the ‘90s, Barr was poised to make $40 million on the last two seasons of her show, making her the second-highest-paid female TV personality after Oprah. In 1996, Roseanne was canceled (the show, not the woman–that comes later) following a bizarre season with too many changes, like a new theme song with lyrics and blue collar champions the Conners winning a $108 million lottery. From there, Barr did a few cameos for pal Rodney Dangerfield (Meet Wally Sparks, 1997) and John Waters (Cecil B. Demented, 2000). From, a forgettable talk show that ran from 1998-2000. In 2001, Barr was set to play David Spade’s mama in Joe Dirt but had her scenes re-shot after reportedly quitting. She landed yet another show of her own, The Real Roseanne Show (2003), a reality show about hosting her actual cooking show Domestic Goddess. The following year, she was cast as a cow named Maggie in Disney’s Home on the Range. In 2005, she launched a comedy tour which led into the next year’s HBO special, Roseanne Barr: Blonde N Bitchin’.

In 2009, Barr posed as Hitler for a satirical Jewish magazine, which she defended as a clear joke, considering she is Jewish and her mother had relatives die in the Holocaust. that same year she even landed a politically charged radio show.

Things got more motivated as the years went on. In 2011, Barr signed on for a pilot called Downwardly Mobile (co-starring John Goodman), but this did not work out, with Barr saying her political tendencies got it shelved. So, too, did her campaign for presidency that year…despite an actual nomination for the left-leaning Peace and Freedom Party.

Minor turns in 2013 and 2014 voicing Kraang Prime in TMNT and judging on Last Comic Standing. And in 2016, she demonstrated an interesting shift in political leanings, throwing her weight behind Trump for president which apparently is a big no no in the land of hollywoodland.

The blue collar blood was perfect for a revival of Roseanne in March 2018, which revealed that her character was a Trump supporter and even shouted “Make America Great Again” on the first episode. The premiere had strong ratings with 18.5 million same-day viewers, it was huge and hilarious – one of the few TV nostalgia reboots that actually worked but that didn’t last long, getting the ax from ABC after just nine episodes following her tweet about Valerie Jarrett, a one- time advisor to former president Obama, comparing her to a character on the Planet of the Apes which many saw as racist, to which Roseanne eloquently responded that it was racist because “thought the bitch was white”, going on to say that she was comparing to the politics of Planet of the Apes to that or Iran, rather than her physical appearance but who know! Miss Rosie even blaming it on a late-night spell of Ambien, to which the manufacturer replied, “racism is not a known side effect.” She would even give examples of celebrities who did equal or worse things but didn’t get fired/cancelled. Later that year came the debut of The Conners, which killed Roseanne off prior to the first episode with an accidental drug overdoes. I tried to watch the Roseanne-less Roseanne but it just wasn’t them same. Cancel culture strikes again.

And speaking of canceled, Barr currently has a new comedy special coming to Fox Nation called CANCEL THIS, where she finally get to cut lose and let her politics and comedy roam free. Tackling issues such as vaccine mandates and side effects, the 2nd amendment, racism, war, her left leaning family members, Joe Biden, cancel culture and more – offending anyone and everyone she can, just like she always have and just like she always will… Whether you like or agree with her or not, you really can’t cancel her…

Roseanne Barr was once one of the most prominent women on television, with a monumentally groundbreaking, heralded and important show that cemented the soon-to-be industry trajectory of comedians landing their own multimillion dollar sitcom deals. So if you want to give a fuck about what the fuck happened to Roseanne Barr that’s ok, but she sure don’t give a fuck about anything and she never has.