Oprah's Show: Roseanne on Sex, Nuts and Incest Allegations

Oprah introduced Rosanne Barr on her February 14th show by saying Roseanne has been called "raunchy, brass (did she mean brash?), she's been called offensive but she's also been called original, smart and wickedly funny. One thing she's never been called is boring."

Roseanne Barr, she said, is "still ruffling feathers, as opinionated and uncensored as ever."

This was Roseanne's first appearance on Oprah's show in 12 years. Back in the day, Roseanne made a total of 10 appearances on Oprah. Roseanne now lives on a 50-acre macadamia nut farm in Hawaii and has a new book out: "RoseanneArchy: Dispatches from the Nut Farm."

Oprah showed clips throughout the show of Roseanne's famous show, her personal life, her Oprah appearances and the cast of "Roseanne."

Part 2: Cast of the Rosanne Show on Oprah

Roseanne Barr came out and they talked about the farm. Roseanne said, "I'm a farmer now and it's fantastic." She explained how Lisa Marie Presley invited her to Hawaii. "I just loved it and I stayed. I never left." She said she needed something to focus on so she decided it would be farming and nuts. "The macadamia nut is a genius," Roseanne said. Oprah said she loves macadamia nut butter.

Roseanne's life partner, Johnny, was introduced in the "Roseanne at home" segment, where Roseanne explained that she wanted to be totally self-sufficient and grow everything she eats. She said she is a "farmer, writer [and] sex symbol." In addition to nuts, Roseanne has goats and bees and was also shown in the "beekeeper" look.

At the end of the clip, as Johnny and Roseanne shared a glass of wine looking out over the Pacific ocean, the comedian said: "I got the fame and the fortune that I always wanted but I have to say what I have now -- it's even better."

On why she hadn't appeared on the show in 12 years, Roseanne thought Oprah was pissed at her. "I piss everyone off sooner or later," Rosannne said. She thought blogging negatively about Oprah's support of Barack Obama made Oprah mad, but Oprah assured her that was not the case at all. Then there was the time Roseanne and Oprah arm wrestled on Roseanne's talk show. Roseanne thought she won the arm wrestling match and that Oprah cheated. Roseanne carried the arm wrestling grudge for a long time, until her kids told her that she her elbow come up off the table so she lost "fair and square." Roseanne kept putting it on her blog: "I won and Oprah cheated." Oprah thought Roseanne was just joking. They then showed a clip where Roseanne's whole arm was off the table! "You doctored the tape," Roseanne laughed.

Part 2: Cast of the Rosanne Show on Oprah

On sex, Roseanne said: "It's totally overrated" and "especially the cougar thing -- that makes me want to upchuck ... I say I'm a badger."

On her life partner: "He is very connected into deep priorities. We have a life of the mind together." Johnny wasn't backing that one up. He said he would like to get one thing straight: "She's a freakin' sex machine. It never stops." He also said that Roseanne is "spontaneous, brilliant, very affectionate and generous."

When the incest allegations that Roseanne made in 1991 came up, they really devoted more time to this than you would have thought. Roseanne said she wished that she had waited till her therapy was completely over before she made allegations of incest against her parents. It was, she said, the "biggest mistake" and "worst thing" she ever did. In her current book, she tries to convey that "you can heal from the worst thing you've ever done and the worst place you have ever been -- you can come back from it."

Roseanne's sister, Geraldine, was in the audience and confirmed that she and Roseanne were estranged for 12 years because of these allegations. Geraldine said she and Roseanne are now together on the nut farm. Roseanne said she was prescribed an "incredible mixture" of psychiatric drugs to deal with "some mental illness" that she believes she still and always will have. She totally lost touch with reality and "didn't
know what the truth was." She went from a place where she thought she had to forgive her father "for things that he did that were "inappropriate" to repenting for things she did - two completely different worlds.

But Roseanne said "nobody accuses their parents of abusing them without justification to do that." She insisted she didn't just "make it up" but says using the word "incest" was a mistake, but she said "I can't really think of another word, and, when I do, I'll use it."

Roseanne recounted her last visit with her father before he died 10 years ago. She said her father told her to get out and she told him to just say goodbye to her. They then had a conversation where they basically said the final words they would ever say to each other. It was clearly very painful for Roseanne to talk about. She tearfully said by admitting that she did wrong to her father, that is how she can help to " elevate his soul," which is something she believes in her religion (Jewish) that she owes her father. Roseanne also talked about having numerous nervous breakdowns and being hospitalized, while people laughed about it. "It was just a really, lonely, horrible time in my life, Roseanne said.

Now that she meditates, she knows how to find a peaceful place within herself, and she says she is very content.

Jake and Jenny, two of Roseanne's five children, appeared in a clip where they talked about growing up with Roseanne as your mother. It was, Jenny said, "really rough at times, but sometimes it was great."

"Everyone makes fun of your mom in high school naturally, in junior high," Jake said, "but when your mom like does the national anthem and grabs her crotch and spits, school's difficult the next day."

Roseanne plans to have a reality show based around her life on the nut farm. It's going to be called "Roseanne-istan."

Part 2: Cast of the Rosanne Show on Oprah

Source: The Oprah Winfrey Show (Feb. 14, 2011)