ABC has abruptly canceled Roseanne Barr’s hit comedy series revival
following a morning in which the star launched a tirade of racist and
anti-semitic tweets.
“Roseanne’s Twitter statement is abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent
with our values, and we have decided to cancel her show,” ABC
Entertainment president Channing Dungey just announced.
Barr’s family sitcom – the biggest success story of the 2017-18 TV
season – had been picked up for a second season after only one episode,
which clocked record ratings. Roseanne was the highest-rated and most
watched freshman series of the 2017-18 season and ranked No. 2 overall
among all entertainment programs in total viewers (17.82 million in
Live+7) and in the adults 18-49 demographic (5.0 rating).
It also was ABC’s highest-rated series and cornerstone of the network’s
upfront presentation earlier this month, which was opened by Barr
(pictured above).
ABC’s cancellation announcement came hours after Barr announced she was
“leaving” Twitter – again – after apologizing for calling former
President Barack Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett an offspring of the
“Muslim Brotherhood & Planet of the Apes.” Barr came back to Twitter
about 5 minutes later to expand on her apology.
“I apologize to Valerie Jarrett and to all Americans,” Barr tweeted. “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.” She
has not tweeted anything since.
Jarrett has not responded, which CNN calls “taking the high road” but
we call it a likely decision to hold off, having, in one of those
incredible coincidences, previously been booked to appear tonight in an
MSNBC town hall about racism in America – ratings on which are now
likely to spike:
Chris Hayes
As it happens, @ValerieJarrett will be participating in
tonight's special town hall on Everyday Racism on @MSNBC.
In her initial tweet about Jarrett she referred to her as “muslim
brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby=vj.” It was in response to
a tweet referencing a Wikileaks claim that the CIA during Obama’s term
in office spied on French presidential candidates.
In response to expected blow-back, Barr said her tweet was a “joke” and
responded to claims that her tweet was racist by replying “Muslims r
not a race.” Jarrett, an African American, was born in Iran to American
parents. Barr’s tweet has since been deleted.
Shortly after Barr’s apology, Wanda Sykes announced her resignation
from Roseanne, on which the prominent African American comedienne had
been a key writer/consulting producer:
Wanda Sykes
I will not be returning to @RoseanneOnABC.
Roseanne co-star and executive producer Sara Gilbert, who was the
driving force behind the revival, also distanced herself and the show’s
cast and crew from Barr’s “abhorrent” comments, with her followup tweet
hinting at the hit comedy’s pending demise.
The tirade about Jarrett was only one of Barr’s offensive tweets this
morning. She had kicked off her day tweeting that Chelsea Clinton is
married to George Soros’ nephew…
Roseanne Barr
Chelsea Soros Clinton
…and, when Clinton responded:
Chelsea Clinton
Good morning Roseanne - my given middle name is Victoria. I
imagine George Soros’s nephews are lovely people. I’m just
not married to one. I am grateful for the important work
@OpenSociety does in the world. Have a great day!
https://twitter.com/therealroseanne/status/1001310680111243269
Roseanne responded:
Roseanne Barr
CORRECTION: CHELSEA CLINTON IS NOT MARRIED TO A SOROS NEPHEW.
HER HUSBAND IS THE SON OF A CORRUPT SENATOR, SO SORRY!:
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/true-father-of-the-groom/
Roseanne also noted, “By the way, George Soros is a nazi who turned in
his fellow Jews 2 be murdered in German concentration camps & stole
their wealth-were you aware of that? But, we all make mistakes, right
Chelsea?”
Soros was born in 1930.
Today’s tweets aren’t even the first time Barr has called an African-
American woman an ape. In 2013, she called Obama National Security
Adviser Susan Rice “a man with big swinging ape balls.”
--
Dems & the media want Trump to be more like Obama, but then he'd
have to audit liberals & wire tap reporters' phones.