Roseanne Barr 'Begged' ABC Not to Cancel Show Before Nearly 300 People Lost Their Jobs

Roseanne Barr attempted to save the jobs of the cast and crew members of her former sitcom before ABC abruptly canceled the show on Tuesday. The comedian, whose namesake series was axed following her racist tweet against former Obama-era staffer Valerie Jarrett, said she "begged" her boss, Ben Sherwood, Disney-ABC Television Group's president, to let her make amends before the broadcasting company inevitably killed the show.

Despite claiming she was "leaving Twitter" following the immediate backlash of her comment, Barr shared more details about the situation on the social media network, of which she is still a user, on Thursday. "I begged Ben Sherwood at ABC 2 let me apologize & make amends," she wrote in a tweet that has since been deleted. "I begged them not to cancel the show."

Barr, who grossed about $21 million for starring, directing and producing nine episodes of the ABC revival (Roseanne's 10th season overall), said she even volunteered to work for free in an effort to keep the series' staffers on a payroll. "I told them I was willing to do anything & asked 4 help in making things right," she wrote. "I'd worked doing publicity 4 them 4 free for weeks, traveling, thru bronchitis. I begged 4 ppls jobs."

The 65-year-old recalled telling Sherwood she initially thought Jarrett, a black woman whom she compared to an ape on Tuesday, was actually white. "He said: what were you thinking when you did this? I said: I thought she was white, she looks like my family!" Barr wrote. "He scoffed & said: 'what you have done is egregious, and unforgivable.' I begged 4 my crew's jobs. Will I ever recover from this pain? omg."

A TMZ report on Thursday said Barr's indiscretion may have cost about 300 people their jobs. Only adding to the stress of the situation, many production positions for the upcoming fall/winter primetime season were filled during the network upfronts, which may make it difficult for members of the Roseanne cast and crew to secure work.

Just days after the Roseanne revival premiered in March, the series was given the green light for another season, set to debut during the 2018-2019 broadcast season. The family-friendly sitcom's episode order was also upped from nine to 13.