Suzanne Somers weighs in on Roseanne Barr's firing: 'The anti-Trumps won in this case'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Suzanne Somers is weighing in on Roseanne Barr's firing from ABC in a new interview with Yahoo Entertainment published on Tuesday. (Reuters/AP)
Former "Three's Company" star Suzanne Somers is weighing in on Roseanne Barr's firing from ABC.
“The anti-Trumps won in this case, but really I think the network lost big,” Somers told Yahoo Entertainment about Barr's canceled comedy series in a new interview published on Tuesday.
“The ratings on the spinoff show were nowhere near what any one of the 'Roseanne' shows accomplished,” Somers continued, adding that the network "won’t be able to sit with that for very long, unless some miracle happens.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}ROSEANNE BARR-LESS 'THE CONNERS' LOSE 25 PERCENT OF VIEWERS FROM SERIES PREMIERE
Last week's episode of “The Conners” – which is the Roseanne Barr-less spinoff of “Roseanne” – lost roughly 25 percent of viewers who tuned in to the show's premiere, according to TheWrap.
“The Conners” picked up a 1.7 rating and 7.9 million viewers, compared to the debut’s 2.3 rating and 10.5 million viewers, according to the Hollywood trade publication which cited fast-national Nielsen statistics.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}ROSEANNE BARR OPENS UP ABOUT HER LIFE AT HOME FOLLOWING HER FIRING FROM 'ROSEANNE'
“Roseanne is extremely unique, and she’s fearless,” Somers explained.
“[She] took a point of view that’s very unpopular right now, so she hit the eye of the storm … with the 50 percent of the country who is pro-Trump and 50 percent who is not," the actress, who was also ousted by ABC nearly 40 years ago, added.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In May, Barr was fired from ABC and her show was canceled abruptly after she tweeted a comment widely seen as racist, directed at former Obama aide Valerie Jarrett. Once "Roseanne," which already had been greenlit for a second season, was pulled from the network, ABC quickly got to work with the remaining cast members for “The Conners.”
On her own firing, Somers opened up to Fox News in December about her famous exit from "Three's Company" following her request for a pay hike.
“At year six, what I was really trying to do was not much feminism, but I think we all should be paid commensurate with the amount of tickets that we sell, and I was selling more tickets than any other woman on television,” Somers explained.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“So why were all the men who weren’t selling as many tickets as me being paid 10 and 15 times more?”
In 2015, The Hollywood Reporter revealed that when it came time for Season 5 negotiations, Somers was looking to earn $150,000 instead of $30,000, which was equal to what the late John Ritter (Jack Tripper) was receiving on the hit 1970s sitcom. Instead, ABC only offered a $5,000 hike.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Fox News' Stephanie Nolasco and Brian Flood contributed to this report.