Jerry Seinfeld Doesn’t Believe ABC Should’ve Fired Roseanne Barr: ‘I Thought The Firing Was Overkill’
The last thing any person wants is to be fired from their job. However, under certain circumstances, managers may conclude that that is the only option. Such was the case for ABC when they decided to part ways with Roseanne star Roseanne Barr, after the actress went on a Twitter rant, posting a highly racist tweet about former President Obama advisor Valerie Jarrett back in May. The network immediately fired Barr, which her fellow comedian, Jerry Seinfeld, thinks was completely unnecessary as told to ET.
It’s been a month since the reboot of the popular ABC comedy Roseanne was cancelled and its main star let go from the company. Many people condemned Barr, 65, for her racially charged tweet about Valerie Jarrett, including the comedian’s former Roseanne co-stars, and praised ABC for its swift action in firing her the very same day she sent the tweet out.
On Monday, Seinfeld, 64, spoke with ET, offering up his thoughts on the controversy, which were surprisingly shocking at first. “I didn’t see why it was necessary to fire her,” he said. As eye-opening as his comment was, it turns out his reasoning behind it actually made sense when he followed it up with, “Why would you murder someone who’s committing suicide?”
While the analogy might leave some people in a state of confusion, it actually makes some sense when you really think about it. In Seinfeld’s mind, Barr’s career and the show itself was already over the second she sent out that tweet according to a report by Good Housekeeping. “I thought the firing was overkill. She’s already dead,” he added. He admitted that he did understand the weight of Barr’s tweet as she was at the time a woman with some influence in the world; however, Seinfeld also revealed his shock on the matter. “I never saw someone ruin their entire career with one button push. That was fresh,” he concluded.
Jerry Seinfeld Thinks It Was "Overkill" to Fire Roseanne Barr From Her Show https://t.co/Ue7iVQ5NG0 pic.twitter.com/MmzDgJETQw
— Good Housekeeping (@goodhousemag) June 27, 2018
Although Seinfeld does “hate to see a comic lose a job,” he does think that ABC’s Roseanne spin-off, The Conners, could still do very well if the network hires “another Roseanne.”
“I think they should get another Roseanne. They brought Dan Conner back, he was dead and they brought him back. So, why can’t we get another Roseanne? There’s other funny women that could do that part. You need to get the comic in there.”
Seinfeld also touched on the success of his own comedy show, Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, which airs on Netflix.
Your time is valuable. One car, two comedians, and some coffee. That’s plenty. We like to think short. Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, streaming July 6 on @Netflix. pic.twitter.com/Es4jZOIGnK
— Jerry Seinfeld (@JerrySeinfeld) June 20, 2018
“I felt like there’s another world to being a comedian that the public never sees and it’s not on a talk show and it’s not in some of these other interview shows that are on TV.”
By driving around with them and drinking coffee, Seinfeld feels that’s how “you see the real person.” The upcoming season will see Seinfeld driving around with more A-list comedians, including talk-show host Ellen DeGeneres.
