Tim Allen breaks silence on Roseanne firing: 'Who makes up these rules?'

Tim Allen is opening up about the other conservative sitcom star whose show was canceled by ABC — Roseanne Barr.

Asked whether the network was right to fire Barr over her racist tweet last May, Allen replied, “I go way back with Rosie and that’s not the Rosie I know. She was the most diverse and tolerant woman I’ve ever known for a long time. Whatever got in her head isn’t the Roseanne I know. It’s a very icy time. I’ve been a comedian for 38 years and I’ve never seen it, like Lenny Bruce said at the Purple Onion, ‘We’ve gone backwards.’ There are things you can’t say. There are things you shouldn’t say. Who makes up these rules? And as a stand-up comic, it’s a dangerous position to be in because I like pushing buttons. It’s unfortunate.”

But did ABC make the right decision? “They had to do what they had to do and it’s their decision.”

Allen made the comments Thursday at the Television Critics Association’s press tour in Beverly Hills after a panel with Last Man Standing showrunner Kevin Abbott promoting Fox’s revival of the former ABC comedy series.