Tom Arnold responds to Roseanne Barr
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The gist
Roseanne Barr said ex-husband Tom Arnold is "telling the truth for once" about scripts he didn't write.
The rare praise from his ex-wife lands in his fight with producer Chuck Lorre.
Background
Tom Arnold is an actor and comedian, 67, who played Arnie Thomas and also worked as a writer and producer on the sitcom Roseanne; he was married to its star, Roseanne Barr, from 1990 to 1994. The dispute stems from a new memoir, Sitcom, by TV writer-producer Chuck Lorre (creator of The Big Bang Theory, a staff writer on Roseanne from 1990 to 1992), who claims Roseanne writers were ordered to put Arnold's name on scripts he did not write. Arnold denied it, and Barr then sided with him in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter as she prepares for what she hopes will be her television comeback.
How it unfolded
- 1990 -1994Tom Arnold and Roseanne Barr were married.
- 1990 -1992Chuck Lorre worked as a writer and producer on Roseanne.
- Oct 15, 2026Arnold defended himself against Lorre's claim in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, saying he would never put his name on a script Lorre wrote.
- Oct 20, 2026Barr, in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, sided with Arnold over Lorre's memoir claims.
- Oct 20, 2026Arnold responded on X the same day, saying "Hell finally froze over today" and that he had predicted his first ex-wife would be forced to say something almost nice about him.
Who’s saying what
- Support
- Barr said Arnold is "telling the truth for once" and thanked him for defending her, calling it the first time he has done something right by her.
- Denial
- Arnold said he would never put his name on a script that Lorre wrote.
- Claim
- Lorre wrote in his memoir Sitcom that a head writer was tasked with writing Arnold's name on scripts "as if Tom had written them," and that other staff writers were ordered to do so on many occasions.
- Expert
- Original head writer Danny Jacobson told Entertainment Weekly "that happened" when asked whether writers were instructed to put Arnold's name on scripts.