Roseanne Barr Slams Kimmel Return as Colbert & More Stars React

While numerous celebrities cheered Jimmy Kimmel’s return to ABC on Tuesday night (September 23), Roseanne Barr wasn’t among them — instead, she slammed the network for what she described as a “double standard.”

Speaking to NewsNation on Tuesday, Barr, whose sitcom Roseanne was canceled in 2018 after she posted a racist comment about former Barack Obama advisor Valerie Jarrett on X (then Twitter), said ABC showed a “double standard” by reinstating Kimmel while she had her “whole life ruined.”

“It just shows how they think. I got my whole life ruined, no forgiveness, all of my work stolen, and called a racist for time and eternity, for racially misgendering someone,” she said, per Entertainment Weekly. “It’s a double standard.”

The Roseanne revival was canceled by ABC in 2018 after Barr compared Jarrett to “Muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby.” While Barr later deleted the post and apologized, ABC stood by its decision, with former network president Channing Dungey saying, “Roseanne’s Twitter statement is abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values, and we have decided to cancel her show.”

“[Kimmel] called me a racist even though I said repeatedly, which they repeatedly censored, that it was a mistake. I thought that the woman was a white woman from Iran,” Barr told NewsNation, adding that the Jimmy Kimmel Live! host “called me a racist even though he himself appeared in blackface on their network many times.”

Kimmel previously apologized for appearing in blackface when he impersonated basketball player Karl Malone on his Comedy Central sketch series The Man Show. “There is nothing more important to me than your respect, and I apologize to those who were genuinely hurt or offended by the makeup I wore or the words I spoke,” the host said in 2020.

The late-night host was suspended by Disney and ABC last week after comments he made on-air about the shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. This came after powerful station group Nexstar refused to air the show on its 32 broadcast affiliates.

As for Kimmel’s return on Tuesday, Barr added, “I think he’ll cheer himself on and his fans, all — what is it? — 2,000 of them. They’ll feel heartened and like they won another battle against Trump and the people of the United States. So it’ll be a big celebration… had defended me, maybe this wouldn’t have happened.”

Despite Barr’s criticisms, many other stars were happy to see Kimmel return to ABC, including actor and Severance director Ben Stiller, who wrote on X, “What a brilliant monologue from Jimmy Kimmel.”

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Former CNN host Don Lemon stated in an Instagram video, “It was fantastic. I think he was right on, he hit the right tone, and that’s a pro. A real professional… All those people who were cheering for him to be fired or suspended, shame on you.”

“Welcome back, brother,” The Late Show‘s Stephen Colbert wrote on Instagram.

“Go get em Jimmy…. You Redwood you 🌲🌲🌲,” added White Lotus star Walter Goggins.

“Kill it tonight – feel all the love ❤️,” Rosie O’Donnell wrote ahead of the show.

“Go go go👏👏👏,” added Oscar-winner Helen Hunt.