“I regret making all those Karen Carpenter anorexia jokes,” says Midler, whose stage act used to brim with put-downs and nasty one-liners. “I cannot tell you how much I apologize. From the bottom of my soul, I apologize to her and her family.
Harry (her husband) and I have a house in Orange County, and every time we drive by the area where Karen lived, I think about her. She had tremendous talent, and I was a jerk for saying those things. I was young and stupid and crazy and thought I was doing profound and enduring stuff. But I wasn’t – I was adding to the ugliness in the world.”
For all her newfound low-key ways, Midler still has a sharp tongue. Take, for instance, her contribution to Roseanne Barr bashing, the country’s newest pastime.
“The one time I saw her,” says Midler of Barr, “she said something that so offended me I thought, ‘What kind of barbarian are you?’ Her humor is too dark and overwhelming. I’m sorry, but I don’t think she’s funny. I think she’s crass.”
