Tim Allen Defends Roseanne Against Racism Accusations, Blames 'Whatever Got in Her Head'
Tim Allen is standing up for Roseanne Barr after her racist tweet about Valerie Jarrett got her fired from ABC earlier this year. “I go way back with Rosie and that’s not the Rosie I know,” Allen said during the Television Critics Association press tour, according to Entertainment Weekly. "She was the most diverse and tolerant woman I’ve ever known for a long time. Whatever got in her head isn’t the Roseanne I know."
He also argued against political correctness, especially in comedy. "It's a very icy time. I’ve been a comedian for 38 years and I’ve never seen it, like Lenny Bruce said at the Purple Onion, 'We've gone backwards,'" he said. "There are things you can’t say. There are things you shouldn’t say. Who makes up these rules? And as a stand-up comic, it's a dangerous position to be in because I like pushing buttons. It’s unfortunate."
But he didn’t go as far as saying ABC was wrong to fire her. "They had to do what they had to do and it's their decision," he said.
Allen is now promoting a revival of his own show, as ABC canceled Last Man Standing last year and the show moved to Fox. At first, some fans blamed ABC for canceling the show because his character, Mike Baxter, was a conservative. "I don’t really believe it was a political decision. I think it was a financial decision," Allen said Thursday. "I thought it was done very poorly, that's my point of view. I was heartbroken."
Last Man Standing executive producer Kevin Abbott told journalists he didn't think the show had much in common with the Roseanne revival, since Allen's show is more of a traditional family sitcom than an issues-driven show. In fact, the show won't "comment specifically on Trump," at least for now, he said. "The central character has a more conservative [view, but] we don't really do issues of the week," he said. "We consider ourselves a family show with a traditional character at the center of it."
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