Roseanne Barr has slammed her former co-star, Michael Fishman, who played her on-screen son, D.J. Conner, on Roseanne and The Conners. Barr’s comments came after Fishman defended the revival’s 2018 cancellation. She accused her former co-star of being a “brainwashed bigot.”
Michael Fishman criticized Barr’s 2018 remarks before his former TV mom lashed out
During her latest appearance on the Can’t Be Censored podcast with hosts Travis Dhanraj and Karman Wong, Barr addressed Fishman’s support for ABC’s decision to cancel Roseanne. The 73-year-old, who appeared on Roseanne with Fishman from 1988 to 1997, said, “He f**king doesn’t even f**king know what I said, even though I’ve explained it 10,000 times for nine years on the Internet. He hasn’t even taken the time to listen to what I say because he’s a bigot. And he’s a brainwashed bigot.”
Barr said Fishman once confronted her about the controversial tweet that led to the reboot’s cancellation. She recalled telling him, “Let me explain this, Michael, go and f**k yourself and stay f**ked ‘till the day you die. Don’t put my name in your f**king mouth; shut the f**k up. You are an ignoramus and a bigot, and you have no idea what I said because it contradicts the Democratic Party platform that you’ve had shoved down your throat and up your a**. So just f**k you. You have no geopolitical context whatsoever to discuss what I said.”
Barr sparked widespread backlash in May 2018 after making a controversial comment about former Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett on Twitter. She compared Jarrett to the “Planet of the Apes” and the Muslim Brotherhood. ABC subsequently removed her from the series following her controversial tweets. The original sitcom ran from 1988 to 1997. Following the cancellation, the network quickly ordered a spinoff called The Conners, which ran for seven seasons from 2018 to 2025. Barr’s character was killed off in the spinoff following an opioid overdose.
Fishman responded to an Instagram comment on August 10 that blamed “woke” culture for the 2018 revival’s cancellation. Fishman began his video by addressing the controversy. He said he had received similar “ignorant and inaccurate” comments for years but usually chose not to respond. However, he said “turning the other cheek” was no longer helping. He argued that dehumanizing people can have real-world consequences. Fishman explained that comedians can find humor in even the darkest topics. However, he said, “Sadly, in this case, there was no joke. And the show was rightfully canceled.”
