Comedian Roseanne Barr took to Twitter to clarify a rumor that circulated on social media on Saturday that she had suffered from a heart attack.
The rumor began when Lee Stranahan, host of Sputnik Radio, took a call while broadcasting live on Periscope. The caller who identified himself only as “Frank,” claimed to be Roseanne’s assistant, and told Stranahan and his audience that the actress and comedian had just suffered a heart attack.
Stranahan (@stranahan) tweeted the following after receiving the phone call:
“I was doing a call-in segment about Zionism on Periscope when the phone rang, saying it was my friend @therealroseanne. I was surprised but it’s a topic she’s interested in so…It was her assistant, saying she’d had a heart attack.This went out live. I don’t know her status.”
The Sputnik host did his best to alert the caller that they were on a live broadcast, and immediately shut off the Periscope livestream.
According to our sources, Stranahan was not the only person to receive phone calls from someone claiming to be Barr’s assistant that stated she was on the way to the Emergency Room, having suffered from a heart attack. Each person who received phone calls from this “assistant” Saturday night was given a different name by the male voice on the other end of the line. Frank, Kevin and Joshua were all names the “assistant” gave to those who received calls.
Stranahan has explained in several tweets since the phone call that it originated from the same phone number that he had saved in his contacts for Roseanne Barr:
“1) The call came from a phone of hers.2) She has possession of that phone. 3) The caller had listened to her voicemail messages, or at least one that I had left her.4) The call was live and you can hear what was said. 5) Neither @therealroseanne or I can explain this.”
“A number has people have said the called could be spoofed, with no proof except “it’s possible.”Yes. It is possible but it’s not as simple as that. First, even in that case it’s someone who knew her number & as I’ve said about 6 times now, they’d listened to her voicemail.”
He also tweeted that he had used the word “underwear” in a voicemail left for Barr a few weeks back. The caller apparently brought up “underwear” during the live feed, which is what raised red flags with Stranahan, who then cut the feed entirely.
“‘Underwear’ was a reference to a voicemail I’d left her a few weeks ago, a joke reference. This is one reason I know whoever called had listened to her voicemail, which is when I stopped the Periscope.”
Roseanne then took to Twitter, posting “I’m fine,” along with a picture of herself in what can only be described as an AMAZING get up that will have you doing a double take.
“I was the victim of a prank. I’ve had no medical issues. I’m spending time at home with my family and relaxing.”
Stranahan started a new Periscope around 1 a.m. on Sunday to update his followers on the strange phone call he received and to clarify that Roseanne was fine based on an email that he received from Barr.
“Update on The @therealroseanne story. It’s weird#”
In his latest Periscope, Stranahan stands by the fact that whoever made the phone call from Roseanne’s phone had listened to the voicemail he’d left her prior to the phone call that went out live.
“Lessons about journalism and the way people react to the news from #TheReaRoseanne story”
No matter what is going on with these strange phone calls, we’re all grateful that Roseanne Barr is healthy and as we can tell by her wardrobe in her “I’m fine” tweet, she’s still the Roseanne we love – continuing to put a smile on our faces.
