‘I didn’t know Jarrett’s race’

– Comedian Roseanne Barr apologised on Thursday for her controversial Twitter comment that caused the cancellation of her US comedy show Roseanne, but insisted she had been misunderstood and the mistake “cost me everything”.

Barr said in an hour-long television interview, her first since comparing a black former Obama administration official to an ape, that her May tweet was political in nature, not racist.

“I was so sad that people thought it was racist,” Barr told Fox News host Sean Hannity.

She said the tweet referencing former Obama advisor Valerie Jarrett – “Muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby = vj” – was about the 2015 international agreement limiting Iran’s nuclear programme.

She did not clarify what she believed was Jarrett’s link to the agreement.

“I made a mistake obviously. It cost me everything, my life’s work ... but no, I did not know she [Jarrett] was black,” she said.

Jarrett was born in Iran to parents of European and African-American descent.

She said on Wednesday she did not intend to watch Barr’s interview.

Addressing Jarrett directly, Barr said on Thursday: “I’m sorry you feel harmed and hurt because I never meant that.”

Barr’s tweet caused a storm of outrage and the ABC network swiftly cancelled the revival of her top-rated comedy series. –