Actor and comedian Roseanne Barr is not exactly known for her tact. From contentious opinions to problematic tweets and public faux pas, controversy seems to follow the Roseanne star around, with one particular incident eventually leading to the cancellation of her show.
The 68-year-old celebrity, who is also active on Instagram and has her own YouTube channel, boasts over 1.2 million followers across all three social media platforms, addresses a large audience whenever she expresses her views on current events. Here’s a rundown of Barr’s biggest flubs that have sparked the most outrage.
6. Roseanne Barr’s Disastrous National Anthem Performance
At a time when her 1988 sitcom, Roseanne, was at an all-time high, Barr gave fans something else to talk about when she sang the National Anthem at a 1990 Padres game. Her performance at the Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego, which you can watch below, went down in history as the “National Anthem Massacre,” with then-President George Bush calling it a "disgrace."
"Not only did Barr butcher the National Anthem, she capped her performance of off-key screeching by making an obscene gesture while spitting as she completed the performance," recounts FriarWire’s Bill Center, who was covering the game. "The crowd of 27,285 — which included a smaller salute to the military — began booing early during Barr’s rendition. And Barr covered her ears as the booing grew into an uproar by the end of her performance."
The incident later became known as the “Barr-Mangled Banner."
5. The Time She Went After A Parkland Shooting Survivor
On the night her 2018 Roseanne reboot premiered on ABC, Barr faced backlash on Twitter after accusing Parkland shooting survivor David Hogg of performing a Nazi salute in a photo. The picture in question, which showed Hogg raising his fist, was taken at the March for Our Lives rally in Washington, DC, calling for an end to gun violence.
Barr swiftly deleted the tweet, posting a correction telling followers that the image she had seen had been doctored, Buzzfeed reported at the time.
"they doctored that pic of David Hogg! he was NOT giving the nazi salute!" she tweeted.
However, users were not swayed by her attempt to smooth things over, reacting promptly to criticize the comedian.
4. The Zimmerman Tweet & Subsequent Lawsuit
One of Barr’s 2012 tweets eventually lead to a lawsuit after the comedian publicized the home address of George Zimmerman’s parents. The incident occurred one month after Zimmerman shot and killed unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin. He was reportedly in hiding when Barr tweeted the address of his parents, along with their names and phone numbers, even though there was no indication he was seeking refuge at their Lake Mary, Florida, home, per The Smoking Gun.
Barr deleted the tweet, posting: “If Zimmerman isn’t arrested I’ll [retweet] his address again — maybe go 2 his house myself.”
The actress, who was slammed for her actions, later changed her stance, taking to Twitter to announce "At first I thought it was good to let [people] know that no one can hide anymore” and “But vigilante-ism is what killed Trayvon. I don’t support that.”
The Zimmermans sued Barr in 2014, saying that her tweet forced them to leave their home and go into hiding for two years. According to CNN, they said the tweet was an "invasion of privacy" and "an open and obvious call for vigilante justice" with the intention "to cause a lynch mob to descend" upon their home.
3. That Time She Dressed As Hitler For A Jewish Magazine Shoot
Barr became the subject of public rebuke after dressing as Adolf Hitler for a 2009 shoot for the satirical Jewish magazine Heeb. The photos portrayed the actress in a Nazi uniform complete with a swastika armband and mustache. She held up a tray of burnt people-shaped cookies men fresh from the oven. The outfit and setup were reportedly her idea.
The shoot sparked outrage on Twitter as people found the whole thing "offensive and obscene."
“Kathy Griffin was fired for posting a fake picture of Trump missing his head,” one user wrote. “Why is Roseanne not being fired for posting a picture of gingerbread Jews going into an oven while she was dressed as Hitler?”
"Satire usually involves something that’s funny. There’s nothing funny about Hitler," tweeted another person.
On her part, Barr, who is herself Jewish, said that she was "making fun of Hitler, not his victims".
2. Roseanne Barr Called George Soros A Nazi Collaborator
Barr’s streak of controversial tweets continued in June 2018 with a tweetstorm in which she accused billionaire philanthropist George Soros of colluding with the Nazis. Her remarks were addressed to Chelsea Clinton, whom she claimed was married to a nephew of Soros.
"George Soros is a nazi who turned in his fellow Jews 2 be murdered in German concentration camps & stole their wealth-were you aware of that?” read her since-deleted tweet, per Deadline.
Barr later apologized for her allegations, tweeting: "I apologize sincerely to @georgesoros. His family was persecuted by The Nazis & survived The Holocaust only because of the strength & resourcefulness of his father."
She also included a link to the website for Open Society, the foundation founded by Soros, directing followers to "learn more of the truth."
Soros, who was born in 1930, "was a 14-year-old Jewish teenager trying to survive in Nazi-occupied Hungary," according to Salon.
1. The Valerie Jarrett Tweets & ‘Roseanne’ Cancellation
On the same day of her original tweet about Soros, Barr also had a bone to pick with Valerie Jarrett. Firing off on Twitter, the sitcom star said that the former Obama administration adviser was a product of the Muslim Brotherhood and Planet of the Apes.
“Muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby=vj,” Barr wrote.
Her remark was made in response to a tweet alleging that Jarrett helped “hide” various Obama-era secrets, per The Cut.
Barr originally brushed off the racist comment as a "joke," apologizing shortly thereafter and announcing she was leaving Twitter.
In the aftermath, her recently revived sitcom, Roseanne, was canceled by ABC.
