Roseanne Arnold Drops Divorce Action : Television: Sitcom star says ‘nasty gossip and lies’ had pushed her toward breakup. She retracts charges that she had been abused by her husband, Tom.

In the most bizarre twist yet in the continuing soap opera surrounding one of Hollywood’s most controversial couples, Roseanne Arnold on Thursday dropped divorce proceedings against her husband, Tom, and withdrew charges that he emotionally and physically abused her.

In a statement released by her press agent, Pat Kingsley, Arnold also mentioned Tom Arnold’s assistant Kim Silva, who was rumored to have had an affair with him.

“I must apologize to my husband, Tom, and my dear friend Kim Silva for letting outsiders, nasty gossip and lies finally break me down and leave me reeling,” said Arnold in her statement. “Tom never hurt my children, and often our fights in the past have led to physical action which we both are learning to control.”

She continued, “Please forgive me to everyone I love. I just lost it completely and found myself camping in the Sequoias. I am off for a much-needed rest to attempt to put my marriage and my head back together.”

The withdrawal came a day after Tom Arnold gave several interviews to entertainment news outlets saying that the claims of abuse were false and that he wanted to reconcile with his wife. He had said she would retract the accusations.

On Thursday, a spokesman for Tom Arnold said, “Tom has seen the retraction and finds it a great first step toward a loving and healthy resolution of the crisis.”

Roseanne Arnold on Monday had filed divorce proceedings against her husband, and said in legal papers that he had abused her throughout their four-year marriage. She maintained that her husband “hit me, struck me, has thrown objects at me, pinched me and verbally abused me. He has also pushed me against walls, while he screams and shouts at me, drowning out any possible pleas that I might make for him to stop.”

The complaint said, “I now realize that I am a classic battered and abused wife who has tolerated the conduct of (Tom Arnold) only because (Arnold) has successfully lowered my self-esteem and reduced me into the realm of battered-wife syndrome.”

The news of Roseanne Arnold’s retraction left many skeptics in the entertainment industry shaking their heads. They said several factors made the split appear to be another of the Arnolds’ infamous publicity stunts.

Tom Arnold’s CBS series, “Tom,” is struggling in the ratings. Roseanne Arnold’s hit ABC series, “Roseanne,” finished filming last week, but fell below “Home Improvement” as television’s most popular show. Her recent book, “My Lives,” did not sell as well as expected. A loud argument between the couple was observed by several witnesses Friday on the set of “Roseanne.”

“It’s indicative of their entire careers that they play out this whole marital high drama in public,” said one insider. “They’re constantly creating theater. Either she was lying or she was telling the truth and has gone back into a bad marriage, which is one of the symptoms of a battered wife.”

“I’m not surprised,” said another source. “They’re experts at doing this, making the media jump through hoops.”

For a week, the story of the abuse accusations and the pending divorce was the focus of radio and television news shows around the country. KCBS Channel 2 news on Wednesday made Roseanne Arnold’s “surprise” appearance at the couple’s Brentwood home its top news story. She supposedly was to have been on a European vacation at the time.

Arnold’s popularity gave her enough power to influence executives at ABC and CBS to pluck her husband out of relative obscurity and make him the star of two network series. One, “The Jackie Thomas Show,” failed, and “Tom” is unlikely to be renewed for next fall.