John Goodman says his initial reaction to Roseanne Barr's offensive tweet was that it "didn't seem true".

John Goodman

John Goodman

The veteran TV star had her eponymous sitcom cancelled by ABC after she likened Valerie Jarrett - a senior adviser to former US President Barack Obama - to an ape, and John has admitted to being in a state of shock over the offensive post.

He recalled: "It just didn't seem true. Then it got true. I was consciously trying to accept it."

Although the controversy led to Roseanne's sacking and the cancellation of her show, John is now starring in a spin-off of the popular sitcom, 'The Conners'.

And the 66-year-old actor has revealed he was eager to reprise the role of Dan Conner because he felt he still had some unfinished business with the character.

He told People magazine: "There was the feeling of not wanting it to go away until we were ready. There was a debt owed to this fictional family. We want to finish telling this story."

Roseanne, 65, will not appear in the new series, having agreed to have no creative or financial ties to 'The Conners'.

But John remains grateful to her for allowing the new series to be made without her.

He said: "That was a very big deal. To give us a chance."

Last month, Roseanne thanked John for defending her following the tweet scandal.

The actress took to Twitter after her former co-star insisted she isn't a racist.

Roseanne wrote: "I thank John Goodman for speaking truth about me, despite facing certain peril from producers and network."

Prior to that, John said: "I know, I know for a fact that she's not a racist. She was going through hell at the time. And she's still going through hell."

Tagged in