In his new memoir, ‘Comedy Nerd,’ director and producer Apatow shares a wild story from his time working as a joke writer for the then-married couple that started with an explosive argument over plastic surgery and ended after things got “quiet. Then, too quiet.”
Judd Apatow has gifted us some truly legendary comedy over the years, but it turns out his real-life war stories from the trenches of his early career are even wilder than anything he’s put on screen!
In his new book, Comedy Nerd, the comedy kingpin shares intimate stories from his fledgling years as a writer. But perhaps the craziest one of all? That time Roseanne Barr and Tom Arnold very likely got it on in his grandmother’s bedroom.
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In his memoirs — as laid out in detail by Us Weekly — Apatow, 57, recalled the time he worked on the three-part 1991 HBO special Tom Arnold: The Naked Truth in the early 1990s — a gig that led to Apatow penning jokes and stand-up material for both Barr and Arnold, it was during this period that he got a front-row seat to their fiery romance.
“I was there during the period when she got in trouble for grabbing her crotch and singing the National Anthem. At one point, I decided to ask for a raise,” the This is 40 director recalled. “I think I made the request through my manager, and later that night Tom and Roseanne both called me and cursed me out on the phone for asking for more money. It was brutal.”
He continued, “I explained that for what [Barr] was paid for one show she could pay me for a year, but they weren’t buying it. An hour later they called back and in a very mellow way just said yes.”
But that wasn’t the only meltdown he experienced with the comedic couple. And trust us, this story is next-level bonkers.
It went down at Apatow’s own grandmother’s house, where the trio was gathered, along with director Peter Segal, to film a segment for one of Arnold’s standup specials. Apatow recalled a conversation about plastic surgery that suddenly erupted into another heated altercation between the couple.
“Roseanne said, ‘Tom, would you ever want me to get plastic surgery?’ Tom said with a smile, ‘No, of course not. I married you the way you are, so clearly I don’t care about how you look,'” Apatow recalled. “Roseanne got instantly enraged and told me and the director Pete Segal to ‘get out of the room!'”
Apatow went on to say that he and Segal could hear “fighting of some sort” before entering the room again. And when he returned, Arnold and Barr appeared drenched in sweat, and, for one of them, visibly banged up.
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“I walk back in and they are both sweaty and huffing and puffing,” he claimed. “Tom has three long scratches across his forehead like in the Bruce Lee movie Game of Death.”
Barr then went on to ask Segal if he thought Arnold “was joking” with his plastic surgery remarks. “Pete says, ‘Yes, definitely.'” Apatow wrote. “Roseanne then explodes at him, “You just want to get the f*cking shot!'”
But the scuffle between Arnold and Barr didn’t stop there. At one point Barr threatened to leave, but Arnold allegedly “grabs her keys, runs outside and tosses them in a thick set of bushes.”
“They both go back in the room where we hear yelling and people banging off the walls. Then it gets quiet. Then, too quiet,” Apatow wrote, hinting at a sexual kiss-and-make-up session. “Somehow we all came to the conclusion they started having sex. A little while later they both came out of the room happy as can be and Roseanne shot her cameo.”
Barr and Arnold — who got married in January 1990 — would file for divorce in April 1994.
If you want to hear more personal anecdotes from Apatow’s career, Comedy Nerd is now available.
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