Por Renan Filho · 2026-09-24The long-simmering feud between Roseanne Barr and her former 'Roseanne' co-star Michael Fishman erupted into public view this week after Fishman stated in a podcast interview that the show’s 2018 reboot was 'rightfully canceled.' Barr, never one to mince words, responded on social media by branding Fishman a 'brainwashed bigot' who has 'swallowed the Hollywood Kool-Aid hook, line and sinker.'
Fishman, who played the Conner family’s eldest son D.J. from 1988 to 2018, made his comments while promoting a new project. 'The reboot was a mess from day one, and honestly, it was rightfully canceled,' Fishman told the 'Back to the Bar' podcast. 'The network had no choice after what Roseanne tweeted. It was the only responsible decision.'
Barr’s response came swiftly via a post on X, where she has maintained an active presence since the cancellation. 'Michael Fishman is a brainwashed bigot who sold out the very audience that made us successful,' Barr wrote. 'He’s been drinking the far-left Hollywood Kool-Aid for so long he doesn’t even remember what real people think. The cancelation of our show was a political hit job, not a righteous judgment. He knows it, and so does everyone else.'
The original 'Roseanne,' which aired from 1988 to 1997, was a landmark sitcom for its unflinching portrayal of a blue-collar, Midwestern family struggling to make ends meet. The show resonated deeply with conservative and working-class viewers who felt ignored by the coastal entertainment elite. When ABC revived the series in 2018, it drew massive ratings, proving that family-centric, non-woke content still had a hungry audience.
But the revival lasted only one season. In May 2018, Barr posted a tweet comparing Valerie Jarrett, a former Obama adviser, to an ape. The tweet was widely condemned as racist, and ABC swiftly canceled the show. Barr apologized, claiming the tweet was a poorly worded joke about pharmaceutical companies, but the damage was done. The network later rebranded the remaining cast as 'The Conners,' effectively erasing Barr from her own creation.
Fishman, who continued in 'The Conners' as a producer and occasional actor, defended the spin-off and the network’s decision. 'The show is now about a family dealing with real issues without the baggage of one person’s public meltdown,' he said in the same podcast. 'It’s been liberating to tell stories that matter without the constant drama.'
Barr rejects that framing entirely. In a series of follow-up posts, she called Fishman a 'traitor to the working class' and accused him and the rest of the surviving cast of 'licking the boots of the woke mob.' She also took aim at ABC, calling the network's decision an 'act of corporate cowardice that betrayed 20 million loyal viewers.'
Why this matters beyond Hollywood gossip: The Barr-Fishman clash encapsulates the broader cultural war now playing out in American entertainment. On one side are creators and audiences who believe that free expression, even when offensive, should not be grounds for economic annihilation. On the other are those who argue that cancelation is a necessary tool for enforcing social norms and protecting marginalized groups.
From a liberal-conservative perspective, the 'Roseanne' cancelation is a textbook case of what happens when corporate media prioritizes woke virtue signaling over market demand. The show’s ratings were sky-high, and the audience demographic—largely heartland Americans who feel abandoned by the coastal elite—was clearly underserved. Instead of capitalizing on that viewership, ABC bowed to a Twitter mob and killed a profitable property.
The incident also raises uncomfortable questions about Hollywood’s double standards. While Barr was banished overnight, other celebrities with problematic pasts have been rehabilitated or ignored entirely. Mel Gibson was eventually welcomed back after anti-Semitic remarks. Chris Brown still sells out arenas after pleading guilty to assaulting Rihanna. But Barr, a conservative woman who criticized identity politics and the Democratic Party, was made an example of.
Barr’s defenders argue that her tweet, while tasteless, was not racist in intent—she has long been critical of pharmaceutical companies and has poor impulse control on social media—and that the punishment was wildly disproportionate to the offense. Moreover, they point out that ABC had no problem profiting from Barr’s talent for decades before discarding her the moment she became a political liability.
Fishman, for his part, has not responded directly to Barr’s latest attack. But his continued participation in 'The Conners' has made him a target for Barr’s supporters, who view him as complicit in what they call 'the assassination of a cultural icon.' He has defended his decision by saying that the new show covers 'important social issues' and that he is proud of the work the cast and crew have done without Barr.
Neither side is likely to back down. Barr is currently developing a standalone comedy special on a conservative streaming platform, leaning into her persona as a canceled anti-hero. Fishman is preparing for the next season of 'The Conners,' which remains on the air but with significantly lower ratings than the original reboot.
At its core, this is not a story about two former co-workers who can’t get along. It is a story about whether a free society can tolerate the cancelation of a popular show for a single, badly worded tweet—and whether the performers who chose to stay behind are defenders of free expression or collaborators in silencing it.