Roseanne Barr, the star of the hit TV show Roseanne , was fired in 2018 after she posted a series of racist tweets, including offensive remarks about former Obama advisor Valerie Jarrett. This led ABC to cancel the revived Roseanne series despite its strong ratings
. Following her firing, the show was retooled into a spinoff called The Conners , which continued without Barr's character. To explain her absence, the character Roseanne Conner was written out by depicting her death from an accidental opioid overdose related to chronic knee pain and addiction to pain medication. This offscreen death was revealed in the first episode of The Conners and has been a significant storyline in the spinoff series
. Barr publicly reacted negatively to the decision to kill off her character in this way
. Meanwhile, The Conners has continued successfully without her, focusing on the rest of the family and addressing Roseanne's death as part of the narrative
. In summary, Roseanne Barr was fired due to racist tweets, and her character was subsequently killed off from the show via an opioid overdose to allow the series to continue without her.
