Tom Arnold Responds to Roseanne Barr's Defense: 'Hell Froze Over'

Tom Arnold reacted with disbelief and humor to a rare defense from his ex-wife, Roseanne Barr, stating that "Hell finally froze over today." The sentiment came after Barr publicly defended Arnold against allegations made by Chuck Lorre, co-creator of "The Big Bang Theory," who claimed Arnold took credit for scripts written by others during their time on the sitcom "Roseanne."

Lorre, who served as a staff writer on "Roseanne" from 1990 to 1992, alleged that Arnold's name was credited on scripts penned by other writers. Arnold and Barr were married from 1990 to 1994, during which time Arnold also worked as a writer, actor, and producer on the ABC sitcom.

Barr, speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, expressed her surprise at her own defense of Arnold, saying, "Unbelievably — I don't think you'll hear me say this often — but Tom Arnold is telling the truth for once." She added, "Tom Arnold is defending me. I have to thank him for that. That's the first time he's done something right by me in his f***ing life. Thanks, Tom."

Arnold, 67, responded on X (formerly Twitter), writing, "Don't give up. Don't ever give up. 33 years ago I predicted I would do something so cool my 1st X Wife Roseanne would be forced to say something almost nice about me. Hell finally froze over today."

Arnold previously addressed Lorre's claims in an interview with Entertainment Weekly. He stated, "I never would put my name on a script that [Lorre] wrote." Arnold explained that his writing process with Barr involved brainstorming ideas together, with the writers' room refining them later. He described the scripting process on "Roseanne" as a "team effort" where "every writer's fingerprints" were present.

The sitcom "Roseanne" originally aired from 1988 to 1997 and was revived in 2018. Barr was fired from the revival after making racist social media posts. The revival was subsequently retooled into the spin-off "The Conners," which began with the death of Barr's character.

Arnold and Barr's divorce in 1994 was marked by public disputes and allegations. Arnold reportedly received a settlement in the range of $20 million. The former couple continued to feud years later, particularly in 2018, when Arnold characterized Barr, a supporter of Donald Trump, as "obviously" racist and a "conspiracy theorist."