Roseanne Barr accused Barack and Michelle Obama of demanding Disney CEO Bob Iger fire her from ABC in 2018, reigniting controversy over her show’s cancellation just days after late night host Jimmy Kimmel was suspended indefinitely.
Barr made the allegation Thursday on X in response to Obama’s defense of Kimmel.
Remember when you and your wife called Bob Iger to have me fired? https://t.co/w5BcJ1bsLC
— Roseanne Barr (@therealroseanne) September 18, 2025
Obama had criticized the Trump administration for “routinely threatening regulatory action against media companies unless they muzzle or fire reporters and commentators it doesn’t like” in his defense of Kimmel, whose show was pulled after he allegedly spread misinformation about Charlie Kirk’s killer.
Barr was fired from her top-rated ABC sitcom “Roseanne” on May 29, 2018, hours after posting a tweet comparing former Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett to characters from “Planet of the Apes” while criticizing the Iran nuclear deal.
In recent interviews with The Times of London, Barr claimed Michelle Obama said her tweet was “unforgivable” and ordered her firing.
“[Michelle] said, ‘This tweet is unforgivable.’ That’s what I was told, and I tend to believe it, because the woman who fired me is now working with the Obamas at Netflix,” Barr said.
Former ABC Entertainment president Channing Dungey, who announced Barr’s firing, left ABC in December 2018 and joined Netflix, where Barack and Michelle Obama have a production deal through their Higher Ground Productions company.
Barr has offered multiple explanations for her tweet over the years, initially blaming the sleep medication Ambien, then briefly taking responsibility.
“I should have written it backwards. It came out dyslexic. It should have been, ‘Valerie Jarrett’s ties to the Muslim Brotherhood have now allowed Iran’s government to remain, as in the movie Planet of the Apes,'” she told The Times.
Barr has consistently denied knowing that Jarrett is Black and claims she was fired for criticizing Obama’s Iran policy rather than making racist comments.
“Of course, I’ve apologized because this was an insensitive comment, but really its damage was in the way it was perceived,” Barr said. “I can’t be responsible for the way people perceive things.”
She accused ABC of bias against Trump supporters and called the network’s actions “total Stalinist censorship.”
“They hate powerful women and they hate powerful, deplorable women and I do consider myself deplorable,” Barr said. “Deplorable is the greatest thing Hillary [Clinton] ever called us, because it empowered a revolution.”
Barr also made controversial comments about the #MeToo movement, saying women who waited to report sexual assault were “prostitutes.”
“If you didn’t say no, just stayed there to get along, you’re a (hooker),” she said.
The comedian said her case was different than Kimmel’s suspension because of different circumstances.
“I wasn’t fired for lying. I was fired for telling the truth about the Iran deal and slandered into oblivion,” Barr said. “They aren’t the same. This will still be worse for our side than theirs. Kimmel will get an entire PR tour to clear his name with the backing of all media.”
Kimmel’s show was suspended after he spread false information claiming Charlie Kirk’s killer was a Trump supporter, despite evidence showing the suspect had leftist political views.
Barr’s “Roseanne” revival was one of ABC’s most successful shows in 2018, regularly topping ratings before its abrupt cancellation. The network later launched “The Conners,” a spinoff without Barr’s involvement.
ABC told Barr her show was eliminated because it was the only program in America not under television’s influence, according to her claims.
“It’s like the PC police. It’s about mind control. Everyone in America is under mind control from television except for my show – that’s why they got rid of it,” Barr said.