Tom Arnold did not mince words while pitching an idea for the new reboot of his ex-wife Roseanne Barr’s sitcom Roseanne.
“Roseanne Barr should do [an episode] about the lies & cruelty she & [Donald] Trump represent,” the 59-year-old actor tweeted on Friday, March 30. He then listed some alleged examples, including the “appalling” mistreatment of immigrants and transgender people, calling Hillary Clinton a “pedophile” and a “murderer,” misidentifying Barack Obama as a “Kenyan” and a “Muslim” and accusing the survivors of the February 14 mass shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, of being Nazis.
Roseanne Barr should do ep about the lies & cruelty she & Trump represent. Ice Agents pulling pregnant moms from kids, appalling treatment of Transgenders, not just disagree with Hillary she's: Pedophile, Murderer, Obama: Kenyan, Muslim, Parkland Kids: Nazi's. Nazi's: Fine people
— Tom Arnold (@TomArnold) March 30, 2018
Arnold went on to retweet several other messages criticizing Barr, 65, as well as share a link to a recent New York Times op-ed with the headline “The Roseanne Reboot Is Funny. I’m Not Going to Keep Watching.”
Barr and Arnold tied the knot in January 1990, just four days after she finalized her divorce from her first husband, a motel clerk named Bill Pentland. At the time, the comedic actor was a writer for Roseanne and later joined the cast as a minor character named Arnie Thomas. But the couple’s marriage was notoriously tumultuous, leading Barr to fire Arnold from the show in 1994. They divorced later that year.
The True Lies actor isn’t the only celebrity to dismiss the new ABC reboot because of his ex-wife’s controversial tweets and support for Trump. Chrissy Teigen tweeted a screenshot of one of Barr’s posts that read “NAZI SALUTE” on Thursday, March 29. The Cravings cookbook author, 32, captioned her post, “Argh. Hit show on ABC. we have reached peak normalization.”
Emmy Rossum was equally critical. “Some reviews I’ve been reading that Rosanne [sic] is attempting to bridge the gap in this country thru comedy are interesting… but I’m sorry, anyone who voted for A WALL is not trying to BRIDGE anything,” the 31-year-old actress tweeted on Thursday, despite her Shameless costar Emma Kenney’s role in the Roseanne reboot.
Though some people haven’t been shy about their disapproval, Roseanne has already proved to be a success. The premiere on Tuesday, March 27, boasted 18.2 million viewers, and ABC later renewed the revival for a second season.
Roseanne airs on ABC Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET.
