a curse or a blessing

Roseanne Barr Says She’s Leaving for Israel When The Conners Premieres

Photo: Theo Wargo/Getty Images for NBC

While you might personally still be up in the air about your interest in the upcoming Roseanne spin-off, Roseanne Barr knows where she’ll be when The Conners drops on October 16: sunny Israel. In the latest episode of Rabbi Shmuley Boteach’s podcast, the actress outlined her plan to get the hell out of dodge when the new show arrives. “I have an opportunity to go to Israel for a few months and study with my favorite teachers over there, and that’s where I’m going to go and probably move somewhere there and study with my favorite teachers,” Barr explains. “I have saved a few pennies and I’m so lucky I can go … and study with any rabbi that I can ask to teach me, and it’s my great joy and privilege to be a Jewish woman.”

If fleeing to a new continent seems like a strong reaction to a spin-off, Barr is pretty open about dealing with a lot of conflicted emotions concerning The Conners, which makes sense. It is, after all, a show that only exists because the Roseanne reboot was tanked by Barr’s racist tweet about former Obama senior aid Valerie Jarrett. “I’m not going to curse it or bless it,” Barr says of The Conners. “I’m staying neutral. That’s what I do. I’m staying neutral. I’m staying away from it. Not wishing bad on anyone and I don’t wish good for my enemies. I don’t. I can’t. I just stay neutral. That’s what I gotta do. I have some mental health issues of depression and stuff. I got to stay in the middle or I’ll go dark, and I don’t want to go dark again. I’ve done it. After all, I was married to Tom Arnold.”

In the same interview, Roseanne also alluded to a new TV project she’s working on. “I’m very excited. It’s very funny,” she said, without revealing any other details. Hmm, uh-oh. They still have Twitter over in Israel, right?

Roseanne Says She’s Off to Israel When The Conners Drops