Roseanne Barr’s former husband Tom Arnold has addressed the star’s recent racist tweet, saying he is not surprised by his ex’s actions.
Last week, Roseanne’s self-titled ABC sitcom was cancelled after she posted a tweet comparing former Obama advisor Valerie Jarrett to a cross between the “Muslim brotherhood” and an “ape”.
Speaking on Monday’s edition of ‘Good Morning Britain’, Arnold answered the question of whether Barr is racist with: “Er, yeah, obviously.”
“I have to say, I saw it coming,” he continued. “I warned everybody.
“I’m talking to my step-daughter the whole time. You’ve got to get her phone away from her. Here’s a phone, she can tweet, but it goes to a different server, there’s time… it was madness.”
Arnold, who was married to Barr for four years in the early 1990s, added: “She has had mental illness.
“When we were married she dealt openly and honestly, our whole family did with multiple personality disorder. She supported me through rehab.
“She had the multiple personality disorder, she was honest and courageous about that. I don’t know exactly what’s going on. I know there is mental illness issues.”
HuffPost UK has contacted Barr’s representative for comment.
After apologising to Jarrett and telling her Twitter followers that she planned to take a break from the site, Barr drew further criticism by returning within hours, and blaming her racist tweet on the fact she had taken Ambien, a sleeping tablet.
Her account is still live but she has not tweeted since 31 May.
Recent reports have suggested that ‘Roseanne’ could return to television screens without its title character, with numerous outlets in the US claiming Roseanne’s on-screen daughter Darlene, played by Sara Gilbert, could become the focus of the sitcom.