Roseanne Barr, the titular character of ABC show ‘Roseanne’, has dropped a spoiler of humongous proportions regarding the show’s spin-off, ‘The Conners’.
In a YouTube interview with ‘Walk Away’, the actor revealed that her character is to die of an opioid overdose.
The revelation comes after months of media and fan speculation about how the character might be written out following Roseanne’s real life controversy, after she was dropped for tweeting a racial slur about former Obama advisor Valerie Jarrett.
The character’s death is plausible, as the last season saw the titular character battling a painkiller addiction, which she took to deal with a knee injury.
The upcoming series, ‘The Conners’, is set to explore the lives of the original show’s characters, excluding the 65-year-old actor.
The cancellation of ‘Roseanne’ came hours after the actor posted the racist tweet back in May.
Channing Dungey, ABC’s entertainment president, responded at the time in a statement, saying: “Roseanne’s Twitter statement is abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values,” whilst one of the show’s creators, Sara Gilbert, was staunch that her tweet was entirely against its ethos.
Roseanne had later attributed her racist statements to having taken the sleep-aid medication Ambien.
Of the new show, ABC confirmed Roseanne would have “no financial or creative involvement in the new series.”
Roseanne, after having apologised, said she regretted the circumstances under which the spin-off had come about.
“I agreed to the settlement in order that 200 jobs of beloved cast and crew could be saved, and I wish the best for everyone involved,” she said.
‘The Conners’ will premiere in the US on 16 October on ABC.