Comedian Roseanne Barr is once again defending her infamous 2018 tweet that led to the abrupt cancellation of her television reboot, now attributing the post to divine inspiration.

According to the Christian Post, Barr recently told Variety that she believed her tweet referencing former Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett was directed by God and aimed at drawing attention to U.S. foreign policy and media narratives.

The controversy began in May 2018, when Barr tweeted that “muslim brotherhood & Planet of the Apes had a baby = VJ,” referencing Jarrett. The tweet was widely condemned as racist and led to her termination from ABC, which subsequently rebranded the sitcom “Roseanne” as “The Connors” and wrote her character off via an opioid overdose.

In her recent interview, Barr claimed she was trying to make a political statement connected to the Iran nuclear deal and not a personal attack. Barr said she was engaged in months-long conversations with Iranian journalists at the time and was upset by what they described as the deteriorating status of women’s rights in Iran.

She said her objective was to prompt public curiosity about Jarrett’s role in the 2015 Iran deal and claimed that over two million people searched for information about Jarrett and Iran the day the tweet was posted.

Barr Maintains Tweet Was Misconstrued

According to Barr, she was unaware that Jarrett is Black and stressed that her post was not meant to liken Black individuals to apes. Instead, she said the mention of “Planet of the Apes” referred to the film’s anti-fascist symbolism, not race.

The image Barr responded to showed Jarrett next to Helena Bonham Carter in full ape makeup from the 2001 remake of “Planet of the Apes.” Barr said she captioned the meme because the resemblance was striking, and she was acting from a place of emotional turmoil after a troubled night.

She also stated that before posting the tweet, she had been taking sleeping pills and drinking alcohol, which she claimed contributed to her mental state. She described waking up angry and distressed, saying, “I was already having nightmares about never going back to that show, and God woke me up.”

Strained Relationship With ABC and Personal Beliefs

Barr expressed frustration with ABC executives leading up to the incident, especially over creative decisions regarding the “Roseanne” reboot. She claimed that tensions grew when she opposed character developments, including the introduction of a gender-fluid character proposed for the show.

She specifically recalled a meeting in which actress and producer Sara Gilbert suggested that Barr’s character’s daughter, Darlene, might raise a gender-fluid child. Barr said she reacted negatively to the idea and believes that the disagreement led to friction with the network.

Blaming her firing on political bias, Barr also criticized Disney CEO Bob Iger, alleging that her conservative views were unwelcome in the entertainment industry. She argued that the backlash was driven less by the tweet itself and more by resistance to her political stance.

Reflecting on Apology and Public Reaction

Immediately after the controversy erupted in 2018, Barr issued an apology to Jarrett. However, she now says she regrets making that apology, claiming that it worsened the fallout and emboldened her critics.

Barr said that apologizing gave her opponents more leverage to vilify her. “Never apologize to the Left,” she told Variety, saying they “rub that jackboot right in your face in the mud if you apologize.”

Despite this, Barr insisted that she never intended any racial harm and maintained her assertion that the tweet was a political critique rather than a personal attack. She believes her message was distorted and taken out of context.

Divine Inspiration and Personal Convictions

Barr stated that since early childhood, she has felt a spiritual connection and has regularly spoken with God. She described this relationship as akin to a child’s imaginary friend, only hers was divine.

She told Variety that she believes God guided her actions, saying, “The way I feel about it is that God told me to do what I did, and it was a nuclear bomb.” She portrayed her tweet as a divinely inspired attempt to serve a greater purpose.

Barr added that her role, as she understood it, was to use her platform to raise awareness about global issues she believed were being ignored. She said she felt called to “help others in return” for answers she received from God during personal struggles.