What a rollercoaster year it’s been for the cast of the Roseanne. The reboot of the iconic sitcom premiered earlier this spring to rave reviews and sky-high ratings. In fact, a whopping 27 million viewers tuned into the show’s premiere, a number that most network shows don’t even get close to hitting these days. But, unfortunately for fans, the success wasn’t to last; just two months after the reboot was officially greenlit for a season 2, its outspoken star shocked the world during a very racist, late-night Twitter rant.

Now, unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know all of the sordid details of Roseanne Barr’s abhorrent comments about Valerie Jarett. Not long after the infamous–and very bigoted!–tweets, ABC announced that it would be canceling the show. Most agreed that the network’s move was the absolutely right one to make, but fans also felt for the innocent cast and crew that got caught in the crosshairs of the controversy.

No doubt, jobs would be lost and careers would be damaged. But, demand from fans was so strong that the network actually made the decision to continue the reboot–without its former star, Roseanne Barr, of course. On June 21st, ABC announced that it would be producing a spinoff, entitled The Conners.

The reaction from fans and cast members alike have been positive ones, but the decision has also left many wondering just how the show’s writers might handle Barr’s departure. There has been a slew of theories, but none had been substantiated–until we heard from John Goodman, that is.

In an interview with The Sunday Times, the veteran actor, who plays Dan Conner on the show, made a pretty clear statement that the character of Roseanne would be “killed off.” It’s not a completely shocking statement–ABC has made it obvious that Barr has no involvement in the spin-off series– but the revelation certainly is an intriguing one.

John Goodman’s take on Roseanne Barr’s racist tweet that ended the series

Shortly following the Twitter controversy, many of the sitcom’s cast members took to social media to condemn Roseanne Barr’s tweets and defend Valerie Jarrett, the former Obama administration official the star attacked. We heard from nearly everyone associated from the show…except for Barr’s longtime co-star, John Goodman.

It wasn’t until earlier this week that Goodman finally made a statement about his thoughts on the situation and his ex-colleague. In The Sunday Times interview, the actor said that he was actually “surprised” by the way that ABC handled the situation. “I was surprised, I’ll put it that way. I was surprised by the response,” Goodman revealed. “And that’s probably all I should say about it. I know, I know for a fact she’s not a racist.”

Wow, we can’t tell if Goodman was defending Barr or not, but his response sure has been the most conflicted of the entire cast!

To learn more about the shocking interview and to hear the exact quote that Goodman gave regarding the character of Roseanne’s death, be sure to watch the video below.

We can’t wait to hear your take on this shocking story. Are you surprised that the character of Roseanne might be killed off? Do you think it’s warranted? Are you planning on tuning into The Connors?