Jimmy Kimmel is back on late-night TV. However, not everyone’s cheering. In fact, Roseanne Barr says his comeback only proves what she’s been screaming for years: ABC plays favorites, and she’s not one of them.
While Jimmy Kimmel, 57, was briefly suspended after sparking backlash over comments tied to Charlie Kirk’s death, he was back on the air within days. Some major affiliates even refused to air his show. But ABC still rolled out the welcome mat, according to National Enquirer sources.
Meanwhile, Roseanne Barr hasn’t been so lucky. The network pulled the plug on her Roseanne reboot back in 2018 after she tweeted about former Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett. The show had been ABC’s top-rated series at the time. However, her words ended the revival overnight. The difference? Kimmel gets to bounce back, while Roseanne says she’s been erased.
“I got my whole life ruined, no forgiveness, and all of my work stolen and called a racist for time and eternity,” Barr told NewsNation on September 23. “It just shows how they think. It’s a double standard.”
Now 72, the comedian didn’t hold back when she tore into the network. Roseanne Barr claimed her career was “ruined,” her work “stolen,” and her name branded with the scarlet letter of cancellation. To her, Jimmy Kimmel’s slap on the wrist compared to her total exile is proof of ABC’s “double standard.”
Roseanne Barr’s Fury Over Jimmy Kimmel’s Special Treatment
And she didn’t stop there. Roseanne pointed out Kimmel’s own past scandals, including the blackface sketches he once performed on The Man Show. Something he later apologized for in 2020. Still, despite the controversy, he got to keep his career. Roseanne Barr says she is furious because she got no such second chance.
What stings most, Roseann Barr admits, is the erasure. She claims she’s been blacklisted not only from Hollywood but from history itself. Once praised as a feminist trailblazer, she now says she’s left out of every conversation about women pioneers in television. Her groundbreaking nine-season run from 1988 to 1997 and the hit reboot are, in her eyes, conveniently ignored.
“I’ve been erased from history, from the history of feminism, which, that cracks me up,” Barr stated. “I’m never mentioned in anything about women who are pioneers in media. I’m never mentioned in anything anymore.”
Meanwhile, The Conners, the rebranded version of her show, carried on without her for seven seasons. The message is clear to fans and Barr. The show lived on, but Roseanne didn’t.
So here we are. Jimmy Kimmel is back in the spotlight, and Roseanne Barr is still in the shadows. One gets a timeout, the other a career death sentence. Roseanne calls it a double standard, but Hollywood might call it business as usual. Either way, she’s not letting the world forget that she was canceled, and she’s making sure ABC doesn’t either.
Casey James 
Sofia Bassett 
