Roseanne Barr has 5 kids IRL — and the youngest live-tweeted the 'Roseanne' premiere last night
Roseanne Barr loves Twitter — and it runs in the family. For Tuesday’s premiere of the Roseanne reboot — which did very well in the ratings department, proving ’merica missed the Conners — the actress live-tweeted the East Coast broadcast, as she was in N.Y.C. with her co-stars/TV kids Michael Fishman (D.J.), Lecy Goranson (Becky 1), and Sarah Chalke (Becky 2) to do publicity for the show.
Watching from the east coast w/Lecy, Sarah, &Michael – @roseanneonabc #roseanne
A post shared by Roseanne Barr (@officialroseannebarr) on Mar 27, 2018 at 6:38pm PDT
However, come West Coast broadcast time, the 65-year-old actress and executive producer handed the reins over to her 22-year-old son, Buck Thomas, so he could do the honors.
What's up everyone! It's past my moms bed time in NYC so I'll be live tweeting for us folks on the West Coast! I haven't seen any of the episodes yet so I am
So excited and proud of her no matter what!P.S. Keep your eyes peeled for this handsome dude on the set!
-Buck.T pic.twitter.com/A3orUxZtaf— Roseanne Barr (@therealroseanne) March 28, 2018
Buck, who is Barr’s youngest child, was born toward the end of her first run on the show. He hadn’t watched any of the new episodes (there were two last night), but noted that he was “so excited and proud of her no matter what.” His exclamation points also adorably emphasized his excitement.
Here we go!!
— Roseanne Barr (@therealroseanne) March 28, 2018
Dan is Alive and thriving!
— Roseanne Barr (@therealroseanne) March 28, 2018
Darlene is back! And looking Fab!
— Roseanne Barr (@therealroseanne) March 28, 2018
Granny is an uber driver now?? Haha
— Roseanne Barr (@therealroseanne) March 28, 2018
#Roseanne what do y'all think so far?
— Roseanne Barr (@therealroseanne) March 28, 2018
Jackie and Granny getting heated! #Roseanne
— Roseanne Barr (@therealroseanne) March 28, 2018
Becky x2!!!!!' #roseanne
— Roseanne Barr (@therealroseanne) March 28, 2018
Clearly mama let him watch the original because he was up on all things Connor. While tweeting, Buck also showed off a photo of himself that is used on the set. It’s a framed pic that’s in the Conner living room. (Apparently, a lot of the photos are people Barr actually knows.) He looks a little different than the last time we saw him — or maybe it’s just the beard.
While we know all about Barr’s kids on the show — Becky (or, more appropriately, the Beckys, Darlene, D.J., and lesser-known Jerry — it seems we know a lot less about her children in real life. She’s actually a mom of five. …
She gave her firstborn up for adoption.
In May 1971, when she was 18, Barr had a child who she put up for adoption. It’s kind of a crazy story, which she detailed in a 1989 People story, because she had a note for the girl, Brandi Brown, to open when she turned 21. However, a tabloid found out about the adoption and threatened to run a story about it. So Barr had to hire a private investigator, find the girl, and break the news herself to beat the press. Another weird fact: Barr ended up knowing the family that had adopted her daughter.
Soon afterward, they met in person at an L.A. hotel. “I turned around and felt this powerful magnet,” she said. “We looked at each other, Brandi jumped out of her seat, and we started running toward each other. We embraced and wouldn’t let go of each other, hugging and crying.”
She had three children during her first marriage.
Three years after giving up her daughter, Barr married Bill Pentland, a postal worker, and they had three children: Jessica, Jennifer, and Jake. She went from living in the suburbs with her fam to Hollywood, with the original Roseanne debuting in 1988. Bill — who wrote scripts for her standup and was a consultant on the show — and Roseanne couldn’t work through their issues, including her soaring fame, and they split.
The children didn’t do well with the divorce, and Jessica ended up needing treatment for alcohol as a teen, according to People. Today, she owns a travel agency. Earlier this year, Jennifer reportedly spoke to the National Enquirer about having substance abuse problems and going into a “lockdown [psychiatric treatment] facility for eight months.” But she appears to have a good relationship with her mom, sharing this group family photo. (Barr’s boyfriend and ex-husband are both in it.) As for Jake, he’s based in L.A., according to his Twitter profile. He used to have a radio show.
Four days after Barr’s divorce from Pentland was final in 1990, she married Tom Arnold, who was friends with her and her husband. (Awkward.) While they tried to have kids, we’re sure they’re both glad they didn’t. Their 1994 divorce was dramatic enough without a custody battle.
And Buck makes five.
The year after her second divorce, in 1995, she married her bodyguard, Ben Thomas, at a casino. She had previously announced her pregnancy, through IVF, and their son, Buck, was born in August 1995. Roseanne and Ben stayed together until 2002. Their divorce hasn’t been great either. (Here’s a quote she gave about him in 2011 when they were publicly fighting over the support she was giving him: “[Ben] has a history of going to the Philippines and bringing home a woman, and marrying and divorcing her after a period of time.”)
As for Buck, he’s has been a student on the West Coast and is getting ready to graduate. He’s always sort of been his mom’s sidekick because he was born while she had the show. He’s been to premieres with her and backstage at talk shows. He attended her Comedy Central Roast, and he’s been on the Roseanne reboot set. For his 21st birthday, they partied together with Carrot Top in Las Vegas.
Here’s Buck visiting the Roseanne set — and hanging with his mom and John Goodman:
A post shared by Buck Thomas (@bucktfor3) on Dec 15, 2017 at 9:55pm PST
Here he is with his father, Ben Thomas:
Tandem bike w the old man #Lineage #BenThomas #stogeLit #FrontHeavy #SquadGoals #TurningHeads
A post shared by Buck Thomas (@bucktfor3) on Jan 4, 2015 at 5:46pm PST
If you watch them on Kannabis Kitchen, Barr’s show about cooking with marijuana — which we didn’t know she had until today — you’ll see they have an interesting relationship.
(Note: The language is not safe for work.)
Since 2002, Barr has been in a relationship with Johnny Argent. They live on a macadamia nut farm in Hawaii.
Roseanne is also a grandma.
Just today, while talking about the success of the Roseanne reboot, she said it was hard to leave Hawaii — and her grandkids — to return to L.A. to make the show, but she did it.
i am so happy-I left Hawaii last June to go to work to write the Roseanne shows-I worked hard thru bronchitis, missing my grandkids & a bum knee & U guys made it all worth it! thanks so very much!
— Roseanne Barr (@therealroseanne) March 28, 2018
She loves to post photos of them — and is clearly proud.
SAY 'HI GRANNY' pic.twitter.com/E6VtzbDKOs
— Roseanne Barr (@therealroseanne) March 7, 2018
A post shared by Roseanne Barr (@officialroseannebarr) on Jul 24, 2017 at 6:56pm PDT
A post shared by Roseanne Barr (@officialroseannebarr) on Dec 7, 2016 at 5:44pm PST
Most people don’t know this about me but I am an MMA referee in my spare time. (These are my grandsons) Cosmo defeats buster Via round 1 Liver Kick. #latestoppage #tko #unsanctioned #ufc375 @joerogan @arielhelwani @jimmysmithmma @danawhite pic.twitter.com/71sq3VwQfL
— Roseanne Barr (@therealroseanne) January 12, 2018
our punk rock group is called 'the hell girls' pic.twitter.com/blvDABh2Iw
— Roseanne Barr (@therealroseanne) February 22, 2018
During an interview with Extra last week, she said, “I have six grandkids. That’s what changed the most in my life [since the original Roseanne]. You’ve got to be pushier to your kids and make sure they do right by their kids, so it kind of gives you an excuse to be a big bitch that you’ve always wanted to be.”
Yeah, yeah with the “bitch” routine. We know she has a soft side too — especially for her family.
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