The actor opens up about 'Roseanne''s abrupt cancellation in May.
John Goodman is opening up about Roseanne's abrupt cancellation in May, after star Roseanne Barr was fired due to a racist tweet against Valerie Jarrett, a former senior adviser to Barack Obama.
In a new interview with The Sunday Times, the 66-year-old actor admits he was devastated at ABC's decision to cancel the highly rated show, and also became depressed. Goodman played Barr's on-screen husband, Dan Conner.
“I was brokenhearted, but I thought, ‘OK, it’s just show business, I’m going to let it go,'" he recalls. "But I went through a period, about a month, where I was very depressed. I’m a depressive anyway, so any excuse that I can get to lower myself, I will. But that had a great deal to do with it, more than I wanted to admit.”
He also defends Barr, revealing that the 65-year-old comedian had to give up her rights to the show so that its spinoff, The Connors, could go on without her.
“I know, I know, for a fact that she’s not a racist," he says.
“She had to sign a paper saying that she relinquished all her rights to the show so that we could go on," he adds. "I sent her an email and thanked her for that. I did not hear anything back, but she was going through hell at the time. And she’s still going through hell.”
When asked about Barr getting fired, Goodman says he was "surprised" at the network's decision.
“I was surprised. I’ll put it this way, I was surprised at the response," he says, before pausing. “And that’s probably all I should say about it.”
But while Goodman defends Barr, he is hesitant when he's asked if the two are good friends.
“We were work friends,” he says of their relationship.
In May, Barr praised both Goodman and their co-star, Laurie Metcalf.
"I just wish ABC had not thrown two of the greatest actors in the world out with me-Laurie and John," Barr tweeted. "I'm so sick over this -- they will never have better character actors on their network."
In footage exclusively obtained by ET in that same month, Goodman broke his silence on Roseanne's cancellation.
"Everything's fine," he said, before commenting on ABC deciding to suspend its Emmys For Your Consideration campaign for the show’s 10th season.
"I wasn't gonna get an Emmy anyway," Goodman said, shrugging. "I've been up there [11] times already, and if I didn't get one I'm not gonna get one."
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