ABC cancels Roseanne after racist tweet
Star’s ‘abhorrent’ attack on ex-Obama adviser ‘inconsistent with our values,’ ABC says
NEW YORK — ABC cancelled its hit reboot of Roseanne on Tuesday after star Roseanne Barr’s tweet that referred to former Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett as a product of the Muslim Brotherhood and the Planet of the Apes.
Barr apologized and deleted her Monday-night tweet, calling it a “bad joke,” but the damage had already been done. ABC entertainment president Channing Dungey said the comment was “abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values.”
Dungey’s statement cancelling the show came after Wanda Sykes, consulting producer for Roseanne, tweeted that she was leaving. Sara Gilbert, a co-star, also tweeted that the remark was abhorrent.
The revival of the comedy was a surprise smash for ABC, owned by the Walt Disney Co., and was counted on to lead the network’s fortunes next season. Its first new episode in March was seen by more than 25 million people in the United States, with delayed viewing counted in, numbers increasingly rare for network television.
ABC expected advertisers to pay millions of dollars for the chance to be seen during commercial breaks on television’s most popular comedy after The Big Bang Theory.
Less than two hours after ABC announced its cancellation, CTV said it would pull Roseanne from its television and streaming platforms following the tweet.
Roseanne recently concluded its first-season run Tuesdays on CTV, but had also been available to stream on CTV.ca and the CTV Go app. A CTV spokesman said the episodes were being removed from those platforms, as well as the on-demand services available through Canada’s cable providers.
Barr’s agents also announced they are dropping the star from their roster.
ICM Partners said in a statement that Barr’s tweet was “disgraceful,” “unacceptable” and “antithetical to our core values.”
The company said it has ended its relationship with Barr “effective immediately.”
One of the few network shows about a working-class family, Roseanne attracted considerable attention upon its return when Barr’s character supported U.S. President Donald Trump. That made the show popular with conservative viewers. Trump himself suggested the character’s backing had a lot to do with the show’s success.
But ABC had said that it expected the show, when it returned next fall, to tone down political comedy.
The Jarrett comment was one of a series of political tweets made by Barr. She criticized Democratic financier and billionaire investor George Soros, and tweeted that Bill and Hillary Clinton’s daughter, Chelsea, was “Chelsea Soros Clinton,” implying she was married to a nephew of Soros.
Clinton herself corrected Barr online. Donald Trump Jr. retweeted two of Barr’s statements about Soros, although not the remark about Jarrett.
Jarrett, who is black, was brought up in response to a Twitter commentary that raised her name in relation to an Obama conspiracy theory. Barr wrote: “Muslim Brotherhood & Planet of the Apes had a babyvj.” She later tweeted an apology. “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,” Barr wrote.
Roseanne executive producer and co-show-runner Bruce Helford said he was “personally horrified and saddened” by Barr’s comments, and they don’t reflect the values of the people who worked incredibly hard to create an amazing show.
Barr’s co-star Sara Gilbert, who also co-hosts CBS talk-show The Talk, wrote on Twitter: “Roseanne’s recent comments about Valerie Jarrett, and so much more, are abhorrent and 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.”
Gilbert said the situation is “incredibly sad and difficult for all of us.”
“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,” Gilbert wrote.
Barr’s co-stars John Goodman and Laurie Metcalf had not publicly commented on the cancellation.