National Enquirer Exposed Roseanne Barr’s Adoption Secret To Her Daughter

Roseanne Barr is opening up about the extraordinary story of reconnecting with the daughter she placed for adoption as a teenager, who, for most of her childhood, believed her biological mother was none other than Goldie Hawn.

The 72-year-old comedian recently revealed that her daughter, Brandi Brown, now 53, grew up assuming she was Hawn’s child due to their similar features and a vague note from the adoption agency stating her birth mother was a famous Jewish woman in Hollywood.

Now, fans are learning that National Enquirer exposed Roseanne Barr’s decades-old adoption secret by contacting her daughter directly and revealing her real biological mother’s identity before the two had even met.

Barr, who gave birth to Brandi at age 18 while living at the Salvation Army Home for Unwed Mothers in Denver, said she had made a promise to her newborn.

“All she knew was that her mother was famous in Hollywood, and Jewish,” Roseanne Barr said. “So she thought it was Goldie Hawn… because she looked just like Goldie Hawn.”

“I’ll see you again when you’re 18, because I’m not going to change my name, I’m going to be famous. I’m going to have my own show named 'Roseanne,'" she recalled during a candid appearance on the "Dumb Blonde" podcast.

That promise came true in a way neither mother nor daughter could have predicted.

As Barr rose to fame in the late 1980s with her Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning sitcom, "Roseanne," the National Enquirer got wind of her secret.

According to Barr, her then-boyfriend Tom Arnold tipped off the tabloid, who told her they planned to run the story regardless of her input. They even tried to photograph her first meeting with Brandi, but Barr declined.

The Enquirer, however, allegedly reached out to Brandi directly, who was 17 at the time, and asked, “Would you like to know who your mother is?” Expecting Goldie Hawn, Brandi was hit with a surprise. “And they go, ‘It’s Roseanne Barr,’” the comedian recalled. “And her words, so hilarious, she goes, ‘Christ, I didn’t even know she was a Jew.’”

Despite the shock, Brandi soon saw the resemblance.

“She goes, ‘Oh my God, I do look just like her,’” Barr said. “And she took the picture to the mirror. And she just kept looking and going, ‘I do, I look exactly like her.’”

Their first meeting happened the next day. “It was wonderful,” Barr shared. “We’ve been back together since then, and she is now 53. And she is awesome… She has a son, and a lovely husband. She’s a wonderful woman.”

In 2024, Barr posted a rare Instagram photo of her and Brandi wearing matching “Love” shirts and knit beanies. In the caption, she lovingly referred to Brandi as her “oldest bb” and thanked God for their reunion.

Brandi, who resides in Colorado, is now a leader in the 1 Billion Acts of Peace Campaign and regularly honors both her adoptive mother, Gail Brown, and Barr on social media. On Mother’s Day, she celebrated “the amazing women who helped shape me.”

In addition to Brandi, Barr has four other children: daughters Jessica and Jennifer, and sons Jake and Buck.

This deeply personal revelation comes amid renewed attention on Barr’s controversial past.

Earlier this month, Barr reignited controversy by defending the racist 2018 tweet that led to the cancellation of her "Roseanne" reboot. Despite initially apologizing, Barr now claims she was misinterpreted and targeted for her conservative views.

“The way I feel about it is that God told me to do what I did, and it was a nuclear bomb,” she told Variety. “The day of my tweet, over 2 million Americans googled Valerie Jarrett and the Iran deal. And that was my intent. So, whatever.”

The tweet, which compared former Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett to a character from "Planet of the Apes," prompted massive backlash and effectively ended her mainstream career.

Still, Barr insists she has no regrets and is channeling her energy into a new edgy comedy series inspired by her life in Hawaii, co-created with longtime collaborator Allan Stephan.

"I live with my daughter and her husband and their six children on a farm," Barr told Variety in a different interview, describing the inspiration for the premise.  "And they have goats running through their house and stuff. It's based on my life as a farmer in Hawaii. They save America with guns, the Bible, petty crime, and alcoholism. It's kind of like the Coen brothers thing."

The plot centers on a gritty Alabama farmer who embarks on a mission to “save America from drug cartels and China,” delivering a bold, politically charged narrative.