Janette Barber (born September 25, 1953) is an American comic, television producer, and writer. She has won six

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

s, including five that she shares with the writers and producers of ''

The Rosie O'Donnell Show ''The Rosie O'Donnell Show'' is an American daytime variety show, variety television talk show created, hosted, and produced by actress and comedian Rosie O'Donnell. It premiered on June 10, 1996, and concluded after six seasons on June 27, 200 ...

''. After that show ended, Barber continued to work with O'Donnell on ''

The View ''The View'' is an American talk show created by broadcast journalist Barbara Walters. , in its 28th season, the show has aired on American Broadcasting Company, ABC as part of the network's ABC Daytime, daytime programming block since August ...

'' and on O'Donnell's blog " JaHeRo". Barber is also known for her recovery from

chronic pain Chronic pain is pain that persists or recurs for longer than 3 months.https://icd.who.int/browse/2025-01/mms/en#1581976053 It is also known as gradual burning pain, electrical pain, throbbing pain, and nauseating pain. This type of pain is in cont ...

, and her story was reported on ''

20/20 Visual acuity (VA) commonly refers to the clarity of visual perception, vision, but technically rates an animal's ability to recognize small details with precision. Visual acuity depends on optical and neural factors. Optical factors of the eye ...

'', ''

Larry King Live ''Larry King Live'' is an American television talk show broadcast by CNN from June 3, 1985 to December 16, 2010. Hosted by Larry King, it was the network's most watched and longest-running program, with over one million viewers nightly. Ma ...

'' and elsewhere. In addition, Barber acts as the food expert and spokesperson for

Molly McButter Molly McButter is an American-made flavored butter substitute manufactured by B&G Foods. Originally developed by food chemists at Alberto-Culver, it is a lower-calorie replacement for butter. As a result of its partially hydrogenated oil ingredi ...

Career

At ''The Rosie O'Donnell Show'', Barber was the supervising producer and

head writer A head writer is a person who oversees the team of writers on a television or radio series. The title is common in the soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio ...

. She shared five

Emmy Awards The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

with the producers of the show. Following that she was executive producer and co-host of ''Lighten Up!'', a series she created for the

Food Network Food Network is an American basic cable channel owned by Television Food Network, G.P., a unit of Warner Bros. Discovery, who manages and operates it as a division of the Warner Bros. Discovery U.S. Networks Group. The channel airs both televi ...

. Barber won her sixth Emmy Award for writing on ''The View''. She currently works with the on-air team for Rosie's XM Radio Show. In late 2010, Rosie O'Donnell announced she would be leaving radio to go back to television. Many wondered what would become of Janette Barber and the other people from Rosie's radio show. On May 19, 2011, Barber announced on her Facebook page that, after a massive write in campaign, she would be starring in "Janette's Show," the replacement to the defunct Rosie show. Barber also has 12 years of stand up comedy experience. She was a nationally touring headliner who made regular appearances on many of the cable comedy shows, such as ''Showtime Comedy Club Network'', ''

VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism for Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network that launched on January 1, 1985, and is currently owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global's networks division based in New Y ...

Stand Up Spotlight'', and A&E's ''Comedy on the Road''. In addition, Barber is a best selling author. She is the co-author, along with Laura Banks, of the humorous work titled ''Breaking the Rules, Last Ditch Tactics for Landing the Man of your Dreams (Career Press Publishers)''. Her latest book with Banks, ''Embracing Your Big Fat Ass,'' was released in June 2008 by Atria, a division of

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster LLC (, ) is an American publishing house owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts since 2023. It was founded in New York City in 1924, by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. Along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group US ...

. Barber is also the food expert and spokesperson for ''Molly McButter'', a non-fat butter-flavored

seasoning Seasoning is the process of supplementing food via herbs, spices, and/or salts, intended to enhance a particular flavour. General meaning Seasonings include herbs and spices, which are themselves frequently referred to as "seasonings". Salt may ...

The blog

In March 2007,

Rosie O'Donnell Roseann O'Donnell (born March 21, 1962) is an American talk show host, comedian, and actress. She began her comedy career as a teenager and received her breakthrough on the television series ''Star Search'' in 1984. After a series of television ...

began creating video blogs for her website. She made the video blogs while getting her hair and makeup done by Helene Macaulay in preparation for going on-air for the television show ''

''. As viewers began submitting questions directed towards or about Macaulay, she became a regular contributor to O'Donnell's video blog. Barber, who acts as O'Donnell's producer, would show up in the video occasionally to speak with O'Donnell. Within a few weeks, people were directing questions and comments towards Barber as well, and she also became a regular contributor to the video blog. The trio are collectively referred to as Jahero. In May 2008, Barber started her own video and written blogs on her website www.janettesblog.com and at "Janette Barber Maximized" at MaxMouth.com.

Last day at ''The View''

Barber was Hot Topics Writer of ''The View'' and was in the ABC studios on the day Rosie O'Donnell and

Elisabeth Hasselbeck Elisabeth DelPadre Hasselbeck (; born May 28, 1977) is an American television personality and talk show host. She rose to prominence in 2001 as a contestant on the second season of the American version of ''Survivor'', where she finished in fo ...

had a significant fight that caused O'Donnell to leave the show three weeks earlier than her one-year contract specified. Barber, a close friend of O'Donnell, drew a moustache on a magazine

tear sheet In advertising, a tear sheet is a page cut or torn from a publication to prove to the client that the advertisement was published. Media buying agencies are often required by clients to provide tear sheets along with a post analysis of any adver ...

of Elisabeth Hasselbeck that was tacked up in ''The View'' offices. It was mistakenly reported by the ''

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates three online sites: NYPost. ...

'' and TV media outlets that Barber was escorted out of the building.

Chronic pain

Barber is also well known for her dramatic improvement from chronic pain. Barber said that she suffered from

back pain Back pain (Latin: ''dorsalgia'') is pain felt in the back. It may be classified as neck pain (cervical), middle back pain (thoracic), lower back pain (lumbar) or coccydynia (tailbone or sacral pain) based on the segment affected. The lumbar area ...

, and later ankle pain diagnosed as

tendinitis Tendinopathy is a type of tendon disorder that results in pain, swelling, and impaired function. The pain is typically worse with movement. It most commonly occurs around the shoulder ( rotator cuff tendinitis, biceps tendinitis), elbow ( tenn ...

. She said that the severity of the pain eventually prevented her from walking, so she used a wheelchair instead. After a segment about Barber's pain on ''The Rosie O'Donnell Show'', many viewers wrote in with suggestions. As a result, Barber saw the controversial Dr. John E. Sarno, who diagnosed her as having

tension myositis syndrome Tension myositis syndrome (TMS), also known as tension myoneural syndrome or mindbody syndrome, is a name given by John E. Sarno to what he claimed was a condition of psychogenic musculoskeletal and nerve symptoms, most notably back pain. Sarno ...

(TMS). Barber said that, after treatment for TMS, she was able to walk and run again. Barber's story was covered by ''

'' and ''

''.

Humanitarian aid

After her chronic pain improved, Barber began doing volunteer work on behalf of

AmeriCares AmeriCares is a global non-profit organization focused on health and development that responds to individuals affected by poverty, disaster, or crisis. The organization addresses poverty, disasters, or crises with medicine, medical supplies and ...

, a disaster relief and humanitarian aid agency. Between 1999 and 2001, she participated in three airlifts to

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

and the

Republic of the Congo The Republic of the Congo, also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo), is a country located on the western coast of Central ...

. Barber produced segments for ''The Rosie O'Donnell Show'' about these airlifts. Barber now sits on the board of directors of The Bridge Foundation. In March 2009, Barber traveled to

Rwanda Rwanda, officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of East Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator, Rwanda is bordered by ...

with the Massachusetts-based relief group Medical Missions for Children. She serves as Ambassador at Large for the group and is producing video content to promote the mission.

References

External links

*
Official website
– Janette's Blog
Rosie O'Donnell's blog
– Where the "Jahero" video blogs are located

Official site for Janette's book co-authored with Laura Banks {{DEFAULTSORT:Barber, Janette 1953 births Living people American television producers American women television producers American women television writers American television writers American stand-up comedians American women comedians 21st-century American women