Although Roseanne Barr was rumored to have been expected for a nude photo shoot at the Playboy mansion, the former Queen of prime time TV, has taken her duds of for another magazine.
In the new issue of Gear, the actress-comedian poses in the buff, lying on her back with one hand over her breasts and a string of jewels over her crotch, according to ABC online.
The provocative photo accompanies an interview in which she recounts exploits of her career and reflects upon some of her many public shockers, including claims she was abused as a child by her parents, said ABC.
The Rubenesque Roseanne, who has slimmed down in recent months, says she’s recently gone through menopause and found posing for the men’s magazine liberating. “I have no sex drive at all and I feel like I’ve been released from prison,” she says.
“For once, I’m making decisions that don’t have to do with lower chakras.”
Editor Bob Guccione Jr. told ABCNEWS Radio that Roseanne suggested the pictorial when he appeared on her now-canceled talk show. But at first, he thought she was kidding.
“She asked me why I hadn’t asked her to pose nude in a magazine, so I said to her, ‘Well, why don’t you pose nude for the magazine?’ And I followed up the next day and I said, ‘If you’re serious, so am I.’ And she said, ‘Yeah, great!’”
Guccione said the possibility of full frontal nudity never really came up. “We don’t show exposed body parts [in Gear]. That’s not what we are, you know,” he said. “We’re a magazine that’s sexy but not a sex magazine.”
The magazine interview with the entertainer includes exclusive details of how Roseanne attempted to reconcile with her parents, whom she has previously accused of abusing her. She says she met with them several months ago to try to clear the air, but it didn’t work, reported ABC.
However, Roseanne’s parents have denied the abuse allegation.
“I never said there was penetration or sex, and as long as it’s not penetration or sex they don’t think there’s anything wrong,” Roseanne tells Gear. “They didn’t care that I felt violated.”
Roseanne says she’s finally finished with therapy after 12 years, during which she’s dealt with childhood traumas, multiple personalities and rape. “I feel like I’ve survived a horrid mental illness,” she says.
She has no immediate plans to resurrect her TV career. Instead, she’ll be concentrating on her new Internet site, Roseanneworld.com, where she hosts a live show in streaming video, answering viewer questions from her home, sometimes in bed.
And while her life has been the center of intrigue and gossip, she tells Gear: “I’m actually so boring, it’s unbelievable. All I really do in real life is try and look for places to eat. And shop”-Albawaba.com.
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
