Roseanne Barr Apologizes to Valerie Jarett For Racist Tweet: “Her Skin Tone Is Like Mine And I’m Brown. I Didn’t Know She Was African-American”

On Thursday, Roseanne Barr sat down with Sean Hannity, in what he dubbed the comedian’s exclusive first interview after being fired from her namesake show, to, once again, address the tweets that torpedoed her career. 

“I apologize,” Barr said, in a final attempt to redeem herself after firing off racist tweets about Valerie Jarrett, a black former adviser to President Barack Obama. 

Although the comedian managed to utter the words of an apology, it seemed to lack sincerity, as it was quickly watered down with comic relief. 

“Let’s talk about it,” Roseanne said, after Hannity asked what he’d say if Jarrett was turned in to the show. “Let’s really turn this into a teachable moment. We need to talk about race and everything that’s connected to it. Her skin tone is like mine and I’m brown. I didn’t know she was African-American. I assumed because she was from Iran and lived in Iran for such a long time.” 

“If she’s watching, I’m so sorry you thought I was racist and you thought that my tweet was racist because it wasn’t. It was political. I’m sorry for the misunderstanding that caused my ill-worded tweet. I’m sorry that you feel harmed and hurt. I never meant that.” 

“For that, I apologize,” she continued. “I never meant to hurt anybody or say anything negative about an entire race of people. My 30 years of work can attest to that.” 

“Plus, I’d tell her she needs to get a new haircut,” Barr added, as she finished the bizarre interview with more jokes and rambling, about religion and politics. 

The following day, TMZ caught up with the comedian to inquire about her interview. When asked if she thought her “Joke” about Jarrett’s haircut would distract viewers from her point, she said, “They hate jokes. They should f*ck off.”