Tim Allen has spoken up to defend fellow comedian and sitcom star Roseanne Barr after ABC recently fired her — very controversially — from her hit show.
“You know, I go way back with Rosie and that’s not the Roseanne I know,” Allen told the press Thursday at the 2018 Television Critics Association Summer Press Tour in Beverly Hills, California.
Allen was referring to Barr’s controversial tweet aimed at former Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett, which was deemed by many to be racist and ultimately led to her axing.
Barr has apologized for the tweet and chalked it up to a bad joke inspired by both misinformation and Ambien.
“She was the most diverse and tolerant women I’ve ever known for a long time,” the 65-year-old Allen said.
“So whatever got in her head isn’t the Roseanne I know.”
Allen’s own sitcom, “Last Man Standing,” will return to television this fall for a seventh season on a new network, at Fox.
ABC canceled the show last year for what many felt were political reasons, since the show focuses on a right-leaning protagonist.
Interestingly, ABC is also the network that fired Barr — and her show was centered around a right-leaning protagonist as well.
Allen continued talking about Barr by saying it is a dangerous time for comedians right now, due to the aggressive political correctness in the culture.
He called it an “icy time” and said he has never seen anything like it in the nearly 40 years he’s been performing comedy.
Chris Rock also expressed his concern for an overbearing PC culture on Twitter recently, which inspired some fairly aggressive responses.
Allen said when he performs comedy, he’s sure to tell people upfront that they might be offended.
“I visualize to the audience and I tell them ahead of time, ‘I’m going to be saying these and I know they’re offensive to you — let’s decide why they’re offensive and who’s making that decision,'” he said. “I have a whole bit about PC correct and what it is,” he said.
Check out this clip of Allen’s remarks, below.
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