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Tom Arnold Has A Cheeky Response After Ex Roseanne Barr Comes To His Defense
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Tom Arnold gave his ex-wife Roseanne Barr a shoutout this week after Barr unexpectedly came to his defense in a rare interview. Barr spoke to The Hollywood Reporter this week as she prepares for what she hopes will be her television comeback. In it, the comedian addressed TV writer and producer Chuck Lorre’s recent claims that the writing staff of ABC’s “Roseanne” were forced by her to credit Arnold for episode scripts he wasn’t involved in writing. Arnold flatly denied Lorre’s accusations in an interview with Entertainment Weekly last week. When asked by The Hollywood Reporter about the conflicting claims, Barr sided with Arnold. “Unbelievably — I don’t think you’ll hear me say this often — but Tom Arnold is telling the truth for once. Talk about the paradigm switch here,” she said. “Tom Arnold is defending me. I have to thank him for that.” She went on to note: “That’s the first time he’s done something right by me in his fucking life. Thanks, Tom.” Barr’s remarks prompted Arnold to proclaim on X, “Hell finally froze over today.” “Don’t give up. Don’t ever give up,” he quipped. “33 years ago I predicted I would do something so cool my 1st X Wife Roseanne would be forced to say something almost nice about me.” Don’t give up. Don’t ever give up. 33 years ago I predicted I would do something so cool my 1st X Wife Roseanne would be forced to say something almost nice about me. Hell finally froze over today. pic.twitter.com/PIcBbFvYdb The original “Roseanne” aired from 1988 to 1997. Lorre joined the show’s writing team for two seasons, starting in 1990. As for Arnold, he portrayed the recurring character of Arnie Thomas in more than 20 episodes in Seasons 2 to 5. Off-screen, Arnold and Barr began a real-life romantic relationship and were married in 1990. “We’re America’s worst nightmare: white trash with money!” Arnold famously joked at their wedding ceremony, per Entertainment Weekly. The couple split about four years later. Their subsequent divorce was, by all accounts, messy, with Barr leveling accusations of abuse and infidelity against her ex, which he denied. Arnold, whose more recent credits include “Sons of Anarchy” and “NCIS: New Orleans,” has since been married and divorced three times. He split from his fourth wife, Ashley Groussman, in 2020. Barr, meanwhile, has been in a relationship with writer Johnny Argent since 2003. She was also previously married to writer and actor Bill Pentland from 1974 to 1990 and actor Ben Thomas from 1995 to 2002. Lorre, the co-creator of “Two and a Half Men” and “The Big Bang Theory,” has been outspoken about his contentious professional relationship with Barr for some time. Appearing on actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson’s “Dinner’s on Me” podcast earlier this month, he described his time working on “Roseanne” as “malice” and suggested Barr’s years on the stand-up circuit were partly to blame. “Roseanne hated that there were writers, fundamentally hated that other people wrote words that she would say,” he said. “She was a stand-up comedian. She made herself a superstar based on her words, her writing. Then transition to a television show where [you] can’t do it alone. It’s impossible.” An outspoken supporter of President Donald Trump, Barr ignited a media firestorm in May 2018 when she made a racist remark about former White House adviser Valerie Jarrett, who served under President Barack Obama and is a Black woman. Her comment prompted ABC to pull the plug on a “Roseanne” revival series, which had premiered just weeks earlier and was a critical smash. When asked by The Hollywood Reporter in 2018 about the cancellation of the “Roseanne” revival, Arnold suggested Barr was no longer interested in continuing the show. “It had to happen, and I am going to tell you the truth, she wanted it to happen, if you saw how her tweets escalated this weekend,” he said, adding: “She is so locked in with Trump she is unable to have any introspection.” Elsewhere in her Hollywood Reporter interview, Barr confirmed she’s recently completed work on a self-financed series titled “Meemaw: A Modern Day Fable” co-starring Randy Quaid. “It’s about a patriotic grandmother who is the matriarch of a mixed-race prepper family in Texas,” she said. As for how she’d like to see the series distributed, she said, “Anybody who wants a No. 1 show and is smart enough to take a No. 1 show” should be willing to broadcast it. By entering your email and clicking Sign Up, you're agreeing to let us send you customized marketing messages about us and our advertising partners. You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.