May 9 • 2019 43
jn
job of the comedian, and it’
s a good
time for it.
JN: Do you relate to other com-
ics like Kathy Griffin, who has
been “blacklisted” by Hollywood, and
how does your situation compare to
men like Alec Baldwin who get a pass
with homophobic slurs and public fist
fights, but continues to be praised and
does not have this affect his work? Do
you want to talk about that at all?
RB: Well, not really. He [Alec]
called me a Nazi and that is offen-
sive to me as a Jew, and Jews and
I can’
t come back from that, I’
m
sorry. Especially Jewish conserva-
tive comics, we have been de-plat-
formed everywhere and that needs
to be said. Whatever. People are
supporting my live comedy, so I
really appreciate that, and I’
m glad
I can do it and I’
m glad I can still
make people laugh and think and
see their faces. It’
s cool.
So, I’
m getting my outfits togeth-
er, that’
s like so much stress, oh, my
God, and if I’
m going to gain any
more weight, so you know it’
s all of
that … I want to look different than
people have seen me look before.
They have either seen me in char-
acter, well, I’
m always in character
… but, this time, I am actually not
going to be in character. I’
m actually
going to be me.
I do have a clothes fetish, I have
to admit. I used to go over to Phyllis
Diller’
s house and she always loved
costumes and to dress up and “play
act,” as we called it, because that
is what we did when we were girls.
She left me several of her costumes.
I just want to pick out the perfect
outfit for my fans to really be blown
away because I think I am a fashion
icon. I should be mentioned as a
fashion icon instead of all of these
terrible things they are calling me …
that I don’
t dress well. Well, I do. I’
m
a Jewish woman. When I walk out,
I want everyone to see a real, live,
loud-mouthed, old Jewish woman.
JN: You are not old!
RB: Yes, I am. I am proud of
it. Like Richard Pryor said, “You
don’
t get to be old being a fool.”
JN: I like that.
RB: Well, do you think you got
enough? I have to go to the bath-
room.
Laughing.
JN: Can your bladder hang on? I
still have a couple more questions.
How has your Jewish faith gotten
you through this tough time?
RB: Oh, it is everything to me.
It has gotten me through every
tough time. I have had a number
of them. It once again brought me
closer to source and that is always
great.
JN: You were just in Israel with
your son, what was that like?
RB: It was fantastic, and I saw
a lot of great things, met a lot of
great people, bought a lot of beau-
tiful art items and had wonderful
food. It was just wonderful to be
there and to be able to speak to
people, too.
JN: You won the Eleanor
Roosevelt Freedom of Speech Award.
RB: I did, yeah.
JN: Where do you think the line
should be drawn or not drawn when
it comes to freedom of speech?
RB: I think [it] should be drawn
at truth and, uh, you know, it’
s real-
ly disgusting to me that I’
ve talked
about the truth at the meaning of
my Tweet and that has just been cen-
sored. They continually smear me
and say they know better than I what
I wrote, and it’
s just so, so anti-Semit-
ic at times, it blows my mind. But,
whatever. People are going to hear
from me. They’
re not going to shut
this old Jew up quite yet.
JN: And, on that note, it sounds
like, in your own words, “this old Jew”
needs to go to the bathroom.
RB: I do. It was nice talking with
you.
JN: Likewise! Thank you. ■
details
Comedian Roseanne Barr will be
performing at 7 p.m. Monday, May 19,
at the Fox Theatre. For tickets, starting
at $25, visit 313presents.com, call the
theater at (313) 471-3200 or go to
ticketmaster.com.
ABOVE: Roseanne and her mother, Helen Barr,
during a 2016
trip to Israel
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