Roseanne Barr calls cancel culture "fascist" in an interview with Tucker Carlson

During a segment to plug her comeback special, Barr commented to Carlson that "the left" have no sense of humor

By Kelly McClure

Nights & Weekends Editor

Published February 11, 2023 11:59AM (EST)

Roseanne Barr participates in "Is America a Forgiving Nation?," a Yom Kippur eve talk on forgiveness hosted by the World Values Network and the Jewish Journal at Saban Theatre on September 17, 2018 in Beverly Hills, California. (Rachel Luna/Getty Images)
Roseanne Barr participates in "Is America a Forgiving Nation?," a Yom Kippur eve talk on forgiveness hosted by the World Values Network and the Jewish Journal at Saban Theatre on September 17, 2018 in Beverly Hills, California. (Rachel Luna/Getty Images)

Roseanne Barr appeared in a segment of "Tucker Carlson Tonight" on Friday to plug her new Fox Nation stand-up special, "Cancel This!," and weigh in on the controversy that caused her to be canceled in the first place.

After an intro in which Carlson described Barr as having "one of the most remarkable life trajectories of anyone we've ever met," the comedian joined the discussion to say that her new comeback special will provide her with the first big opportunity to tell her side of the story.

"[Fox Nation] offered me to come and do a stand-up special and it was in response to me being fired, and they came to my defense," Barr said. "I thought about it and I was like, yeah, I need to have my say . . . because I was not allowed to even apologize for what happened."

Barr has found herself in the hot seat several times in the past, but the incident that all but put an end to her career took place in 2018 when she referred to Valerie Jarrett, senior adviser to former President Barack Obama, as "a combination of the Muslim Brotherhood and the 'Planet of the Apes.'" 

Barr has since claimed that she thought Jarrett was white and that she didn't mean what people thought she meant. 

"I was just black-balled. Just totally canceled from even commenting on what happened," Barr said in her interview with Carlson. "So I thought, well, stand-up is a great place to come back and say what happened and tell the truth about it, and also to talk about cancel culture itself and how horrible it is and how fascist." 


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Barr said that she's had conversations with comedian friends who have also been canceled and they've all agreed that should they ever be given the opportunity to come back, they promise to be even more offensive.

"My stand-up is more offensive than I've ever been and I'm so happy because you've gotta be more offensive when the culture is so offensive that it makes absolutely no sense that it's anti-life, anti-human, anti-culture, anti-citizen. You've gotta be so offensive to offend the most offensive thing that's on Earth right now. And I think I've done it," Barr said.

Watch below:


By Kelly McClure

Kelly McClure is Salon's Nights and Weekends Editor covering daily news, politics and culture. Her work has been featured in Vulture, The A.V. Club, Vanity Fair, Cosmopolitan, Nylon, Vice, and elsewhere.

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Cancel Culture Roseanne Barr Tucker Carlson