John Goodman breaks silence four months after the scandalous end of 'Roseanne'

With the premiere of the spin-off of the abruptly canceled reboot of ABC sitcom “Roseanne” just around the corner, cast member John Goodman shared some of his feelings about his former co-star with Jimmy Kimmel.

In the October 8 episode of his night show “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” the TV host had 66-year-old actor John Goodman as a guest. The star used the opportunity to talk about how does he feels now that the show must go on without Roseanne Barr.

Since the 65-year-old namesake star of “Roseanne” fell from grace on May 29 over tweeting racist remarks, causing the instant cancelation of the series reboot's second season, Goodman hasn’t said much about what happened.

But after a comical roundabout on the subject, Kimmel asked Goodman straight questions about how it was for him to continue playing his role as Dan Conner on “The Conners” without Barr. Read more on our Twitter account @amomama_usa

After assuring Kimmel that he agreed to the idea to go on with the show without Barr since it was first proposed, Goodman revealed how difficult the months following the scandal, and how much he misses working with his friend.

THE SHOW MUST GO ON

"She is missed, definitely. After that many years, it's like a family. And last year, it was so miraculous and so unreal that when [the show] went away it was almost like a dream."

-John Goodman, “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” October 8, 2018.

As much as “The Big Lebowski” star feels nostalgic now that the actress who played his wife on TV for about ten years is no longer on the set with him, he knows that the show is not all about Barr and that they have to keep going.

But as much as he tried to “be a big boy” and make the best out of the situation, Goodman admitted that he felt really down about the fate of the show’s creator and star for weeks before he could get himself together.

"All kinds of weird stuff happened. My wife got sick right after that [and] then I fell down the stairs," the actor added to illustrate how somber the energies got following the disastrous controversy.

HE WILL ALWAYS BE ROSEANNE’S BUDDY

Most of the cast of “Roseanne” was quick to condemn Barr for her racist remarks and supported the network's decision to cancel the show, which made the discredited actress respond with harsh words.

But Goodman remained silent for a while, and he did all he could to stay out of the spotlight and refused to comment about the controversy. He didn’t want to be caught in the middle of it, and he wasn’t going to speak ill of Barr.

About a week after Barr’s fall, he was tracked down to an auto repair shop in New Orleans where he was collecting his car, and a journalist tried in vain to get him to talk about the issue.

Keeping a respectful attitude towards the reporter at all times, Goodman didn’t say much, explaining that he didn’t know many details about the situation and didn’t want to make things worse.

“It was very weird doing the first show without her because she's my buddy. I mean, we'd just sit there and she'd make me laugh and I'd make her laugh, which is fun because there's always a danger of her peeing herself."

-John Goodman, “Jimmy Kimmel Live”, October 8, 2018.

HE DOESN’T THINK ROSEANNE IS ACTUALLY RACIST

Despite Barr’s long history of questionable and at times hostile comments in social media, and the obviously racist tweet that ended in the termination of her successful show, Goodman doesn’t consider her to be racist.

Goodman opened up about the situation in August when he gave his first official interview following the cancelation, and he recalled how he reacted when the network announced their decision so soon after Barr’s infamous tweet.

“I was surprised. I’ll put it this way: I was surprised at the response. And that’s probably all I should say about it,” he said with his characteristic discretion.

But as much as he wanted to be careful not to take sides in the controversy, he showed sympathy for his former co-star and went so far as to defend her with the authority his many years spent with Barr gives him.

“I know, I know, for a fact, that she’s not a racist”, he stated. He also recognized Barr for letting ABC continue with the show she created, and he said to have written an email to her to thank her for doing so in order to let others keep their jobs.