Comedian Mo’Nique Defends Roseanne and Says She Is Not a ‘Racist’

After Disney fired her from her very own TV show, Roseanne Barr enjoyed little support from her fellow Hollywood actors.

The firing occurred after Barr targeted former Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett with a tweet that many deemed racist. Barr immediately apologized for the tweet; she’s since tried to explain she was unaware at the time that Jarrett was African-American. Roseanne also said she was on Ambien when the incident happened.

One major voice has peeled off from the crowd and chosen to defend Roseanne.

That person is comedian Mo’Nique, who won an Academy Award in 2010 for Best Actress for the film “Precious.”

“Roseanne Barr is my sister in comedy and she is my universal sister and what I won’t do … is throw her away for making a mistake,” Mo’Nique said on a panel for KTLA News. “We’ve all said and done things, baby, that we wish we could take back and swallow and say, ‘Oh,’ but when you’re in the public eye, you can’t, and it’s out there, but to put the title of racist on her [is not true].”

The two comedians have a history together, one that Mo’Nique was happy to share.

“When I had ‘The Mo’Nique Show,’ there were big, major, black superstar talent that had white representatives and they told their talent that show was ‘too black and we really don’t want you to go on there,'” the comedian said. “But there was a white woman named Roseanne Barr that showed up for me when people that looked like me [didn’t].”

“That woman was giving me some beautiful words.”

She continued, “That woman was giving me some beautiful words and she told me, ‘Mo’Nique, I’m going to tell you right now, baby, they’re going to consider you difficult. They’re going to call you the B-word because you’re a woman who won’t lay down and take that foolishness.”

“The Mo’Nique Show” ran on BET for over 300 episodes.

Mo’Nique went on to say that she believes Barr deserves forgiveness.