Legendary TV producer Chuck Lorre is finally telling the truth about working with Roseanne Barr, and it's not pretty. The man behind hit shows like Two and a Half Men and The Big Bang Theory says Barr's open contempt for her own writing staff made the set a nightmare.
What did Chuck Lorre say about Roseanne Barr?
On Tuesday's episode of the Dinner's On Me with Jesse Tyler Ferguson podcast, Lorre didn't hold back. He said Barr had genuine malice toward the writers on her eponymous ABC sitcom, making her impossible to work with.
Roseanne hated that there were writers. Fundamentally hated that other people wrote words that she would say.
Lorre, who spent two seasons as a writer and producer on Roseanne, explained that Barr and any writing staff had what he called built-in animosity. He said the whole setup was flawed from the start.
It was the premise of other people putting words in a stand-up comedian's mouth. It's fundamentally flawed. There's very few comics that can do that.
Why did Roseanne Barr struggle with TV writers?
Barr built her career on her own stand-up comedy. She wrote her own material. So when she had to share that power on a network sitcom, it didn't sit well with her.
Lorre explained that Barr made herself a superstar with her own words, and then had to transition to a team effort. He called that transition impossible for her.
Why did Chuck Lorre stick it out on Roseanne?
Lorre admitted he didn't quit because he couldn't afford to. He had spent 15 to 20 years struggling with poverty and health issues before landing the gig. He was not going back to scrambling to pay rent.
That is why I put it up with it. 60, 70-hour weeks every week.
What happened to Roseanne after the reboot?
The original Roseanne ran on ABC from 1988 to 1997. The network brought it back in 2018, but canceled it just two months later after Barr went on a racist rant against Valerie Jarrett, a former adviser to President Obama.
ABC kept the franchise alive with The Conners, a spinoff without Barr. That show ran for seven seasons until 2025.
Did Roseanne Barr and Chuck Lorre clash before?
This isn't the first time these two have traded barbs. In 2011, Barr claimed in a blog post that she fired Lorre for being, in her words, a big drunk on my show. She also said his lines could choke a horse and render any actor reciting them soul dead.
The following year, Lorre told the Archive of American Television that the show was a very volatile environment and that Barr just hated one of his scripts.
What is Roseanne Barr doing now?
Barr recently clashed with her former TV son, Michael Fishman. Fishman condemned her racist tweets that got the show canceled. Barr fired back, calling him a brainwashed bigot and claiming she was the only reason he was brought back for the reboot.
They wanted to get rid of you in the reboot and I made them take you back. F---k you, you little f---king putz.
Page Six reached out to Barr's rep for comment but got no response.
One thing is clear: Roseanne Barr built her career on her own words, but she couldn't handle a team effort. In America, we believe in merit and hard work. That means respecting the people who help you succeed, not tearing them down.