A defiant and sometimes rambling Roseanne Barr has opened up in a lengthy interview with Sean Hannity on his Fox News opinion show.
Defiant and humbled in equal parts, Barr said the racist tweet that led to the cancellation of her popular rebooted TV show was a "mistake", adding "it cost me everything, my life's work".
But she also said the tweet was meant to express a political view, not a racial one, and insisted her intentions had been misunderstood.
Barr offered an unusual explanation that involved her feelings regarding former US President Barack Obama advisor Valerie Jarrett's role in international diplomacy.
By comparing the woman - who is of colour - to an ape, Barr somehow claims she was "asking for accountability from the previous administration about the Iran deal".
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Barr has a history of publishing tweets deemed racist and homophobic, including referring to Muslims, Palestinians and Palestinian rights campaigners as "Nazis", and calling for a nuclear attack on the non-Jewish students and staff of the University of California.
During the hour-long interview, Barr discussed everything from her mental issues to a desire to take the opposite side to whatever belief was held by people currently in power.
"I like middle-America. I like the middle way," she told Hannity.
Barr revealed that her most recent contract with ABC gave her 24 hours to correct any tweet that might be controversial, but that ABC would not let her go on shows like The View to explain the remarks she made about Jarrett.
And she said she cut all financial ties to her series, which will launch again in the next TV season as The Conners.
"I didn't want to cost anybody their jobs," she told Hannity. "It's going to be part of my repentance."
She expressed interest in talking to Jarrett, or perhaps working out a way to find a "teachable moment" in an encounter with her.
"I'd want her to hear my voice, that I am so sorry," she told Hannity.
Barr acknowledged by the end of the programme that she has made her share of errors.
"I made a lot of mistakes," she said. "I live my life out loud."
Reuters / Newshub.
