John Goodman is speaking candidly about the current state of his relationship with longtime co-star Roseanne Barr, and it appears the once-close collaborators haven’t been in touch for years.
In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the 73-year-old actor revealed that he hasn’t spoken to Barr, 72, “for about seven or eight years.”
That timeline coincides with the fallout from Barr’s controversial 2018 tweet, which led to the abrupt cancellation of the rebooted Roseanne series and the creation of The Conners as its replacement.
Goodman looked back fondly on their time together during the original run of Roseanne, which aired from 1988 to 1997, but ultimately admitted: “I’d rather doubt if she wants to talk to me."
“We hit it off from jump street,” he said. “She made me laugh, and I made her laugh, and wow, it was so much fun. We’d get so many viewers for the show back then, 20, 30 million people. Things are so different now, but it was a special time.”
Roseanne was rebooted in 2018 with a 10th season, but the show was swiftly pulled from ABC after Barr made a tweet comparing former Obama advisor Valerie Jarrett to an ape, the BBC reported at the time.
The tweet was deemed racist, backlash was swift, and ABC canceled the series.
The actress later tried to pass off her post as a "joke", writing: "I apologize to Valerie Jarrett and to all Americans. I am truly sorry for making a bad joke about her politics and her looks. I should have known better. Forgive me-my joke was in bad taste." However, the apology wasn't enough to save her reboot.
“Roseanne’s Twitter statement is abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values, and we have decided to cancel her show,” then-ABC Entertainment President Channing Dungey said in a statement at the time, per CNN.
Soon after, ABC greenlit The Conners, a spinoff focused on the remaining members of the Conner family. Goodman reprised his role as patriarch Dan Conner, alongside Laurie Metcalf, Sara Gilbert, and others. Barr’s character was written off the show, having died from an opioid overdose.
The Conners ran for seven seasons from 2018 to 2025, and Goodman says saying goodbye hasn’t been easy.
“It’s really hard,” he told PEOPLE during a set visit. “It’s something I’m going to miss for a while. I’m old and resistant to change.”
Reflecting on the series’ enduring appeal, Goodman believes its success lies in its relatability.
“It was just kind of a normal family that’s really been up against it,” he said. “And a lot of people in this country have been up against it for a long time.”
As The Conners closes out its final chapter, Goodman’s portrayal of the everyman dad, and his complicated off-screen history with Roseanne Barr, remains part of one of TV’s most iconic family sagas.