Laurie Metcalf hasn’t spoken to Roseanne Barr since the controversial comedian was fired from ABC in 2018 over a series of shocking tweets.
The “Lady Bird” star reflected on her relationship with Barr and how the pair haven’t talked in nearly 10 years during an interview with the New Yorker published Monday.
“There’s nothing controversial. We just haven’t spoken since we said goodbye at the end of the reboot,” Metcalf, 70, said of the pair’s estrangement.
“I don’t even know how to answer that,” she added when asked if she was angry at Barr for “blowing up her own show.”
The “Death of a Salesman” actress and Barr starred together for all nine seasons of “Roseanne” from 1988 to 1997.
Metcalf starred as the comedian’s on-screen sister, Jackie Harris, and told the New Yorker that she was “intimidated” by Barr when they first met in 1988 because Barr was “self-made.”
The pair reunited in 2018 when ABC ordered a revival of the hit sitcom, but the series was canceled by ABC that May after Barr posted several controversial tweets – including one in which she compared former Barack Obama advisor Valerie Jarrett to an ape.
“Roseanne’s Twitter statement is abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values, and we have decided to cancel her show,” President of ABC Entertainment Channing Dungey announced.
Barr, now 73, later claimed that “God told [her]” to send the racist 2018 tweet that ultimately derailed her career.
Metcalf, who was performing in the Edward Albee play “Three Tall Women” in New York City at the time, said she learned “Roseanne” was canceled on the news.
However, Metcalf and the sitcom’s other stars – including John Goodman and Sara Gilbert – were invited to return for the rebranded “Roseanne” spin-off “The Conners” a few months later.
“There was just a general sadness around the whole place,” Metcalf said of returning to the world of “Roseanne” without Barr there.
“The Conners,” which saw Barr’s character killed off after suffering an opioid overdose, went on to run on ABC for seven seasons from October 2018 to April 2025.
Reps for Metcalf and Barr did not immediately respond to Page Six’s requests for comment.
Metcalf wouldn’t be the first “Roseanne” alum to reveal that they haven’t spoken to Barr since her unceremonious firing from ABC eight years ago.
Goodman – who starred as Barr’s on-screen husband, Dan Conner, in both the original sitcom and its Season 10 revival – said he hasn’t spoken to the comedian in “about seven or eight years” during an interview with the Hollywood Reporter in July 2025.
“I’d rather doubt if she wants to talk to me,” he lamented.
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