In the wake of a racist tweet targeting a former Obama adviser from actress and comedian Roseanne Barr, ABC says it’s canceling her show Roseanne.
The announcement came this Tuesday from ABC Entertainment President Channing Dungey, who said Barr’s tweet was “abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values.”
The move came after scores of people on social media and in the entertainment industry called for cancelation of the show after Barr tweeted that Obama-era adviser Valerie Jarrett is the result of the “muslim brotherhood” and “planet of the apes” having a baby. Barr was responding to another tweet that accused Jarret of being complicit in a cover-up of Obama’s alleged misdeeds.
After the initial backlash, Barr deleted the tweet and apologized, tweeting, “I apologize to Valerie Jarrett and to all Americans. I am truly sorry for making a bad joke about her politics and her looks. I should have known better. Forgive me-my joke was in bad taste.”
https://twitter.com/therealroseanne/status/1001471669641216005
As The Hill points out, the cancelation could be a huge blow to the network, which saw its audience grow when the politically-charged show was recently revamped for the Trump era.
Barr’s tweets and musings were still an issue of contention even before her show’s cancelation. She accused a survivor of the Parkland shooting of giving a Nazi salute. She once claimed that Trump has secretly broken up a child sex trafficking ring run by Democrats.
Roseanne executive producer and co-star Sara Gilbert slammed Barr in a series of tweets this Tuesday, saying that Barr’s comments were “abhorrent and do not reflect the beliefs of our cast and crew or anyone associated with our show.”
“This is incredibly sad and difficult for all of us, as we’ve created a show that we believe in, are proud of, and that audiences love– one that is separate and apart from the opinions and words of one cast member,” she tweeted.
Featured image via screen grab/YouTube
