‘Roseanne’ gone after racially-charged tweets
Barr’s charged comments prompt quick response from ABC
ABC, in a stunning move on Tuesday, canceled the hit comedy “Roseanne” a few hours after series star and co-creator Roseanne Barr issued what the network called a “repugnant” tweet about a African-American former White House adviser to President Obama.
Earlier in the day, Barr posted and eventually deleted a racist comment on Twitter directed at Valerie Jarrett, who is black and was born in Iran.
“Muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby=vj,” she wrote.
The tweet prompted an immediate outcry on social media, with some demanding a response from the broadcast network. ABC reacted by pulling the plug on Barr’s show, which was set to return with new episodes in the fall.
“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 2016, Dungey became the first black entertainment chief of a major broadcast network.
The cancellation abruptly ends the successful revival of “Roseanne,” a comedy that had returned to the air nearly 21 years after its groundbreaking original run (1988-97) on ABC. The nine-episode revival — which featured Barr as the Donald Trump-loving matriarch of a working-class family — finished the broadcast season as television’s most-watched scripted show and was cited by some as proof that Hollywood has for too long ignored conservative, bluecollar viewers.
Tuesday, Barr was dropped as a client by the talent agency ICM Partners, which said, “We are all greatly distressed by the disgraceful and unacceptable tweet from Roseanne Barr this morning. What she wrote is antithetical to our core values, both as individuals and as an agency. …”
Reports said Viacom had announced it was pulling all episodes of the original “Roseanne” out of circulation as well.
Before ABC moved to ax the show, Barr apologized, and announced she was leaving Twitter, saying her “joke was in bad taste.” But not many were laughing. Wanda Sykes, a consulting producer on “Roseanne,” said she would resign.
Barr’s “Roseanne” costa, Sara Gilbert, who was also an executive producer on the revival, called Barr’s comments “abhorrent” and wrote they “do not reflect the beliefs of our cast and crew or anyone associated with our show.”
During an appearance on MSNBC Tuesday, Jarrett said she hoped the matter could help create a turning point in race relations.
“I think we have to turn it into a teaching moment,” she said, according to Variety. “I’m fine. I’m worried about all the people out there who don’t have a circle of friends and followers who come right to their defense — the person who’s walking down the street minding their own business and they see somebody cling to their purse or walk across the street. Or every black parent I know who has a boy who has to sit down and have a conversation, ‘the talk’ as we call it. Those ordinary examples of racism that happen every single day.”
The premiere of the “Roseanne” reboot in March drew more than 27 million viewers; an extraordinary number in an era of fragmented media audiences. And though the ratings cooled as the show’s run continued, “Roseanne” remained a standout performer for ABC.
Just two weeks ago in New York, the series and its outspoken star were the centerpiece of the network’s annual splashy pitch to advertisers for the upcoming fall season.
The tweet about Jarrett was part of a series of bizarre Twitter posts unleashed by Barr on Tuesday.
She also called Chelsea Clinton “Chelsea Soros Clinton” and said the former first daughter is secretly married to the nephew of George Soros.
After Chelsea Clinton politely and cooly replied that she has no relationship to Soros, Barr responded by repeating a widely discredited rumor that Soros, who is Jewish, survived German occupation of Hungary during World War II by collaborating with the Nazis.
Soros is “a Nazi who turned in his fellow Jews 2 be murdered in German concentration camps & stole their wealth.” Barr tweeted.
Barr’s actions drew plenty of fire from the show business community. Tweeting directly to Barr, veteran actress and Berkeley resident Rita Moreno wrote, “You break my heart — You are a sorry excuse for a human being. How odd that you, as a comedienne, have forgotten the meaning of a ‘joke’ and a personal comment. Your meanness is staggering and will earn you a ticket to a sad, lonely and sorry life.”
Still, Roseanne did have some supporters, especially among conservatives.
Donald Trump Jr., the president’s oldest son, retweeted her Soros comments, and Alex Jones tweeted that “it’s time for you to strike back against these THOUGHT POLICE and really shake them up!”
“Roseanne’s Twitter statement is abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values, and we have decided to cancel her show.”
— Channing Dungey, ABC Entertainment president in a statement Tuesday