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Roseanne Barr Reveals How Her ‘Roseanne’ Character Is Killed Off on ‘The Conners’

Roseanne Barr Reveals How Her ‘Roseanne’ Character Is Killed Off on ‘The Conners’
Roseanne Barr at a ‘Roseanne’ press conference at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills on March 23, 2018. Vera Anderson/WireImage/Getty Images

Roseanne Barr totally just spoiled The Conners. The actress revealed in a new interview how the spinoff of her canceled sitcom, Roseanne, will write off her namesake character.

Related: Roseanne Barr’s Most Controversial Moments

“Oh ya, they killed her,” the 65-year-old said during a recent appearance on the YouTube show #WalkAway With Brandon Straka. “They have her die of an opioid overdose.” (In the reboot, Roseanne Conner battled a prescription pill addiction stemming from a knee injury.)

Barr admitted that she is not happy with the decision. “They had to so cruelly insult the people who loved that family and that show,” she said.

Related: First Look at ‘The Conners’ Without Roseanne

However, she has come to accept her character’s fate. “There’s nothing I can do about it,” she added. “It’s done. It’s over. There’s no fight left.”

ABC canceled the hugely successful revival of Roseanne in late May after Barr posted a racist tweet about former Barack Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett. She later deleted the post, apologized and claimed she had been “Ambien tweeting.” Less than a month later, the network picked up The Conners with returning cast members including John Goodman (Dan), Laurie Metcalf (Jackie), Sara Gilbert (Darlene), Lecy Goranson (Becky) and Michael Fishman (D.J.).

A press release from ABC teased at the time that “a sudden turn of events” would force the family to “face the daily struggles of life in Lanford in a way they never have before.” It also confirmed that Barr would have no financial or creative involvement in the 10-episode spinoff.

Related: Huge TV Shows That Were Quickly Canceled and Forgotten

Goodman, 66, became the first to reveal the fate of Barr’s character in an interview with The Times in August. “I guess [Dan will] be mopey and sad because his wife’s dead,” he said. “I was broken-hearted, but I thought, ‘OK, it’s just show business. I’m going to let it go.’”

The Conners premieres on ABC on Tuesday, October 16, at 8 p.m. ET.

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