Barred Roseanne not backing off controversy

Faults use of Ambien; Trump faults ABC

Roseanne Barr’s Twitter saga didn’t end with the cancellation of her show. She was back at it on Wednesday, first blaming sleeping medication Ambien and defensively comparing ABC’s response to her racist tweetstorm to those of other celebrities who have made controversial comments in the past.

And U.S. President Donald Trump weighed in on the rapidly unfolding controversy Wednesday, questioning why the head of ABC parent company Disney had called Jarrett to apologize, when he hadn’t received similar treatment.

“Bob Iger of ABC called Valerie Jarrett to let her know that ‘ABC does not tolerate comments like those’ made by Roseanne Barr,” Trump tweeted. “Gee, he never called President Donald J. Trump to apologize for the HORRIBLE statements made and said about me on ABC. Maybe I just didn’t get the call?”

After blaming Ambien for the Twitter rant, Barr also turned to a surprising target — her “Roseanne” team. She reposted a tweet by Sara Gilbert, the actress who played her daughter, Darlene, on the show and served as executive producer. Gilbert had called Barr’s initial comments “abhorrent,” saying they “do not reflect the beliefs of our cast and crew or anyone associated with our show. I am disappointed in her actions to say the least.”

“Wow! unreal,” Barr wrote in response. Later, she moderated her stance: “no, I understand her position and why she said what she said. i forgive her. It just shocked me a bit,” she wrote.

Meanwhile, Sanofi, the maker of Ambien, hit back at Barr. “While all pharmaceutical treatments have side effects, racism is not a known side effect of any Sanofi medication,” the company tweeted.