Roseanne Barr has accused her ABC bosses of anti-semitism during a visit to Israel which was organized by her spiritual guardian, Rabbi Shmuley Boteach.
She claimed that her eponymous sitcom was ended by ABC last year as a result of her outspoken support for Israel while speaking at an event in Tel Aviv yesterday, claiming she had been “BDS-ed” by the network.
The reboot of the popular sitcom Roseanne was canceled by ABC after a single season following racist tweets made by Roseanne, a supporter of President Donald Trump, against Valerie Jarrett, a former Obama administration adviser.
In an interview with the Jerusalem Post, she reiterated her belief that the show was canceled because of anti-semitism rather than her racist tweet.
“I feel that what happened to me, a large part of it is antisemitism,” she said. “I think it played a part – the fact that I was never allowed to explain what I meant – and what I meant was a commentary on Iran – so they purposely mischaracterized what I said and wouldn’t let me explain.”
“And in haste, they did something unprecedented that they’ve never done to any other artist. And at the base of that, I think it’s because I am the most vocal person about Israel and BDS [Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions].”
BDS is a reference to the Palestinian led group which has been leading global calls for a boycott of Israeli products, services, and cultural exchanges as a result of their perceived crimes in Palestine. Roseanne is scheduled to address the Israeli Knesset, the legislative parliament of the Israeli government on Thursday when she is expected to condemn BDS once more.
She is on a four-day tour to Israel during which she has been her usual outspoken self on a number of issues. She has attacked what she perceives as the liberal Hollywood elite, defended President Trump and his policies, and also made the startling admission that she runs a number of fake online accounts which she uses to troll her critics.
Roseanne, who is Jewish, said that she had witnessed dreadful anti-semitism in the USA and that “I’m just here to defend the Jewish people.”
“There are no proper words for me to express the connection I feel, first of all to God, to Torah, to my people,” she continued.
Barr’s visit has been a high-profile one so far. In addition to her visit to the Knesset, she has also been photographed with Miri Regev, Israel’s Minister of Culture and Sport.
She has also paid a visit to the old city in Jerusalem where she visited the Western Wall, the holiest site in the city, where Jewish pilgrims go to pray.