Roseanne Barr Discusses Conspiracy Theories With Bill Maher

Comedian Roseanne Barr, in a profanity-laced interview with Bill Maher, shared her thoughts on numerous bizarre conspiracy theories.

During an episode of Maher's Club Random podcast shared on YouTube on Sunday, the two comedians and longtime friends discussed a variety of Barr's convictions, including her belief that "psychopath billionaires" are trying to kill "regular people" with vaccines.

In the roughly hour and 10-minute segment, Barr also discusses her notion that Satanists are "all over the place" as well as her theory that centuries of inbreeding have resulted in reptile-like humans with altered DNA.

Barr's political views and peculiar opinions have gotten the comedian in hot water previously.

In 2018, Barr was fired from a reboot of her sitcom, Roseanne, after coming under fire for sharing racist content on social media.

In the controversial post, Barr tweeted that the "Muslim brotherhood and planet of the apes had a baby," referring to Valerie Jarrett, who is Black and was a senior adviser to former President Barack Obama.

In response to the avalanche of criticism in the wake of the post, ABC killed off her character on the show and brought the sitcom back without her as The Connors. Barr said at the time that she would not have shared the post if she had known Jarrett was Black and said that she would have been prepared to apologize on air.

More recently, the outspoken comedian has found herself under scrutiny after she made controversial statements during an October appearance on Donald Trump Jr.'s podcast Triggered with Donald Trump Jr. Barr, a vocal supporter of former President Donald Trump, spoke candidly about being "canceled" and discussed politics with the MAGA leader's oldest son.

Critics were outraged over a particular snippet from the interview that was posted on X, formerly Twitter, where she referred to Black and Jewish Democrats as "mind controlled."

"I don't think anything is going to wake up the Jews and the blacks who vote Democrat," Barr said in the clip shared on X. "They're so severely mind-controlled...I don't think they can get it."

Barr's trend of speaking her mind appeared to continue during the segment with Maher, where she lashed out at Billionaires, saying that they "Hate the regular people."

During an exchange between the pair, Maher asked Barr to describe her stance on vaccines.

Barr responded, "They're trying to f****** kill us," before continuing with "That's why they're giving us the vaccine."

Maher disagreed, but Barr cut him off and pressed on, saying "They hate us."

When Maher asked if she was referring to the pharmaceutical industry, she replied the "f****** crazy a** psychopath billionaires."

"They hate the regular people," Barr added.

Maher quipped that Barr, a celebrity comedian and former sitcom star, was "not one of the regular people."

Barr and Maher spent the duration of the podcast segment reminiscing on their longtime friendship and bantering about politics and some other peculiar conspiracies, including mind control and the idea that human inbreeding has caused "reptile people."

She told Maher that he was under a mind-control program called "MK Ultra" and when he questioned whether she truly believed that, she responded with, "I do," prompting him to quip, "Is there a conspiracy theory you don't believe?"

"I believe that something affects you after thousands of years of inbreeding," Barr said. "...That DNA thing is different from other humans, except the Jews, which also inbreed. No, I'm kidding. And so do people in Kentucky. That was my joke. But no, the pharaohs, and that line, they're really super inbred with their DNA."

At one point during the segment, Barr lamented over no one understanding her sense of humor.

"At least half of my life, nobody gets what I'm saying—if it's a joke, or serious, or what," she said.

Barr on Tuesday responded to Newsweek's request for an interview via her son and manager, Jake Pentland, who said his mother is "always getting in trouble for jokes."

"The world has changed," Pentland said in an email to Newsweek. "You used to be able to make controversial jokes without people trying to ruin your name. She comes from a time when edgy comedy was the best comedy. It's still that time, of course, but people are afraid to admit it for fear of cancellation."

When asked to elaborate on her comments about billionaires and vaccines during the discussion with Mahr, Barr doubled down on her convictions.

"Billionaires are trying to kill us with genetically modified food, corn syrup, poison water, chem trail-infused air, vaccines and pharmaceuticals of all kinds," Barr said via email. "Of course, it's not just limited to just Covid vaccine that they're using to kill people. I'm not crazy. That was just one way. Don't forget Covid itself is as leaked from a lab. That's another 'conspiracy theory' you guys will say I made up and ignore me when it comes true. Like I said, add your money to the 'Roseanne Barr was right jar.'"

When asked by Newsweek why, in the face of mounting scrutiny and backlash, Barr continues to be vocal about her controversial beliefs, the comedian responded: "It's important for me to keep speaking because I can't let the f****** win. That's why."

Update 12/6/2023, 6:35 p.m. ET: This article was updated with comments from Barr and Pentland.