Roseanne Barr Looks Back On Her Sitcom's Controversial Lesbian Kiss 21 Years Later

Roseanne Looks Back On Her Sitcom's Controversial Lesbian Kiss

"Roseanne" had its share of gay-friendly moments, and Roseanne Barr looked back at one of the most memorable on HuffPost Live on Friday -- the kiss she shared with Mariel Hemingway in the episode "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

While chatting about Roseanne's new documentary "Roseanne For President!," host Josh Zepps showed a clip of the famous kiss, which first aired 21 years ago.

"It's so different to watch it now ... because they've repackaged it as 'the gay kiss show,' and it was a gay kiss, but to me, that was a show about homophobia," Roseanne said.

Airing a same-sex kiss on primetime television was controversial in the '90s, and Roseaane said ABC initially "threatened to cancel it and everything." Eventually the network did broadcast the episode with a parental advisory warning, and The Los Angeles Times reported in 1994 that 75 percent of the viewer calls to ABC headquarters "expressed a favorable reaction."

Roseanne told HuffPost Live the controversy didn't rattle her because she had a purpose behind the storyline.

"My brother and sister are both gay. I just got tired of hearing bullshit about it, so I wanted to do [this episode]," she said.

Sign up here for Live Today, HuffPost Live’s morning email that will let you know the newsmakers, celebrities and politicians joining us that day and give you the best clips from the day before.

Before You Go

Kim Cattrall

HuffPost Live's Celebrity Guests

Popular in the Community

Close

What's Hot