During a conversation with Rabbi Shmuley Boteach for the conservative “Promised Land” podcast, Roseanne Barr revealed she’s planning to leave the United States for Israel before the premiere of the ABC spinoff sitcom, The Connors.
Shmuley didn’t shy away from the upcoming premiere set for October 16 on ABC.
The New York Daily News reports the Rabbi asked point-blank if she planned to watch the “revised version” of her now departed sitcom.
“I have an opportunity to go to Israel for a few months and study with my favorite teachers over there,” Barr told Shmuley, a longtime friend. “And that’s where I'm going to go and probably move somewhere there and study with my favorite teachers.”
“You know, I have saved a few pennies and I'm so lucky that I can go,” she added. “It's my great, great joy and privilege to be a Jewish woman.”
The comedy star also shared that staying in the U.S. for the premiere and seeing the media’s response could “tempt” her to make a controversial comment about the spinoff, especially if she “has too many drinks.”
Barr did offer this comment regarding The Connors: “I’m not going to curse it or bless it. I’m staying neutral. That’s what I do. I’m staying away from it. (I’m not) wishing bad on anyone, and I don’t wish good for my enemies, you know. I don’t. I can’t. I just stay neutral.”
Barr also admitted to “some mental health issues of depression and stuff,” during the chat. Alluding to personal demons, she explained, “I got to stay in the middle or I’ll go dark, and I don’t want to go dark again.”
The reboot of Barr’s hit sitcom, Roseanne, was summarily cancelled after one season in the aftermath of racist tweets by the 65-year-old comedienne about former White House advisor Valerie Jarrett. In the tweets, which Roseanne later blamed on “Ambien-tweeting,” she compared Jarrett to an ape.
She denied any racist overtones claiming, “I thought the b—h was white.”
Barr also made disparaging comments about former First Daughter Chelsea Clinton and Democratic supporter, George Soros.
ABC decided to revamp the reboot one more time, this time without Barr. In order for the project to move forward, however, Barr was required to sign away any rights to future royalties of the new show.
In an interview last week, actor John Goodman shared that Barr's character will be dead in the new spinoff.
