Roseanne Barr: ‘I’m Not Stupid For God’s Sake’

MARRIOTT MARQUIS HOTEL, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES - 2018/04/29: Roseanne Barr interviewed by Dana Weiss during 7th Annual Jerusalem Post Conference at Marriott Marquis Hotel. (Photo by Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)
MARRIOTT MARQUIS HOTEL, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES - 2018/04/29: Roseanne Barr interviewed by Dana Weiss during 7th Annual Jerusalem Post Conference at Marriott Marquis Hotel. (Photo by Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRock... MARRIOTT MARQUIS HOTEL, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES - 2018/04/29: Roseanne Barr interviewed by Dana Weiss during 7th Annual Jerusalem Post Conference at Marriott Marquis Hotel. (Photo by Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images) MORE LESS
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Former sitcom star Roseanne Barr gave an emotional, and at times unhinged, interview, speaking out for the first time (besides Twitter) since her hit show “Roseanne” was canceled after she posted a racist tweet.

Speaking to Shmuely Boteach on his podcast “Rabbi Shmuley,” Barr apologized through sobs for her “ignorance” and claimed that she “didn’t mean it the way they’re saying I meant it.” The podcast episode was published Sunday.

I’m a lot of things, a loud mouth and all that stuff,” she said, clearly struggling to speak through tears. “But I’m not stupid, for God’s sake. I never would have wittingly called any black person and say they are a monkey. I just wouldn’t do that. I didn’t do that. And that people think that I did that and it just kills me. And if people think that, I’m just so sorry that I was so unclear and stupid.”

Barr reiterated her “explanation” that she was on Ambien when she tweeted comparing former Barack Obama aide Valerie Jarrett to the Muslim Brotherhood and “Planet of the Apes.” At one point in the interview she was vocally crying and had to pause the discussion: “I have to get a hold of myself, wait.”

Lamenting that she had “lost everything,” she said she “horribly regret(s)” the tweet and claimed she was attempting to criticize Jarrett for her policies on Israel and said she thought the former Obama adviser was “white.” Barr is Jewish and was invited on the Rabbi’s podcast to discuss her views on Judaism and repentance.  

“I know I should have known better,” she said in the interview that published Monday. “I think of her as somebody who is trying to subvert freedom for me.”

Listen to the full interview below:

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