Roseanne barred after post
AMERICAN actor Roseanne, pictured, has apologised for “making a bad joke” after she incited outrage by comparing a black former Obama administration official with an ape in remarks on Twitter.
Walt Disney Co’s ABC network yesterday swiftly cancelled the US TV comedy Roseanne and the show was promptly taken off the air elsewhere, including in Australia.
In a since deleted comment on Twitter, Barr compared Valerie Jarrett, a former adviser to President Barack Obama, to an ape. Barr wrote if the Islamist political movement “muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby = vj”.
The 65-year-old actor apologised “for making a bad joke” about Ms Jarrett’s “politics and her looks”. “I should have known better. Forgive me — my joke was in bad taste.”
The show, a revival of the 1990s hit Roseanne, was the ABC’s most widely watched prime time show for the TV season that ended last week.
“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 said in a statement.
In Australia Network Ten also pulled Roseanne off the air. “Network Ten is appalled and disgusted with Ms Barr’s racist tweet and has removed Roseanne from Ten and Eleven, effective immediately,” a spokeswoman said.
US President Donald Trump has cited the Roseanne show’s huge viewership as evidence his supporters, who include Barr, want shows that speak to their concerns.
White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders, asked whether Mr Trump thought the show should have been cancelled, said: “That’s not what the president is looking at. That’s not what he’s spending his time on. I think we have a lot bigger things going on in the country right now.”
Hollywood talent agency ICM also reacted quickly, saying it would no longer represent Barr.
The original Roseanne ran from 1988 to 1997, featuring a blue-collar family, the Con- ners, with overweight parents struggling to get by. It was praised for its realistic portrayal of working-class life.
The current Roseanne was ABC’s biggest hit of the 2017-18 season, drawing an average 18.7 million viewers, second only to CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory.
Sara Gilbert, who plays daughter Darlene on the series, on Twitter called Barr’s comments “abhorrent”.