|
 Barr said in an hour-long television interview, her first since
comparing a black former Obama administration official to an
ape, that her May tweet was political in nature, not racist.
"I was so sad that people thought it was racist," Barr told Fox
News host Sean Hannity. She said the tweet referencing former
Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett - "muslim brotherhood & planet of
the apes had a baby = vj" - was a bid to seek accountability for
the 2015 international agreement limiting Iran's nuclear
program.
She did not clarify what she believed was Jarrett's involvement
in the agreement.
"I made a mistake obviously. It cost me everything, my life's
work. And I paid the price for it. But no, I did not know she
(Jarrett) was black," she said.
Jarrett was born in Iran to parents of European and
African-American descent. She said on Wednesday she did not
intend to watch Barr's interview.
Addressing Jarrett directly, Barr said on Thursday: "I'm sorry
you feel harmed and hurt because I never meant that."
Barr's tweet caused a storm of outrage and the ABC network
swiftly canceled the revival of her top-rated comedy series
"Roseanne" about a working-class American family in the era of
President Donald Trump.
ABC has since announced the show will return in October as a
spinoff called "The Conners" with all the main characters except
Barr, who will have no financial or creative involvement.
[to top of second column] |
"I have apologized a lot. I feel that I have apologized and
explained and asked for forgiveness and made recompense," Barr
said on Thursday, adding that she has made donations to "several
African-American things."
The rambling interview also covered Barr's mental health, her
Jewish upbringing, and her views on Trump, who the actress has
said she voted for in the 2016 presidential elections.
"I am not a racist, and the people who voted for Trump are not
racist either, and Trump is not a racist. Sorry," she said.
Barr also gave other explanations for her tweet, saying she had
taken the sleep aid Ambien, drunk two beers and was taking
antidepressant medication on the night she posted on the social
media network two months ago.
She said she had not tried to contact Jarrett to apologize
personally because she feared being screamed at on the phone.
Earlier in the interview, however, Barr said, "Everybody
deserves to be joked about. Anybody who is in any kind of
position of power deserves to have a joke about them, and if
they can't laugh at themselves that means something."
(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Paul Tait and Christian
Schmollinger)
[© 2018 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2018 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content. |
