NO LAUGHING MATTER
Roseanne cancellation brings uncertainty to many
The unprecedented sudden cancellation of one of television’s top comedies has left a wave of unemployment and uncertainty in its wake.
Roseanne Barr’s racist tweet and the swift axing of her rebooted show put hundreds of people out of work, with some wondering whether they would be paid, most knowing they wouldn’t be, and few with any legal recourse.
“A lot of people there are just middle-class Americans making a living and now they’re out of work, especially at a time when we’re ramping up into production for the fall season,” Rebecca Sun of the industry trade publication The Hollywood Reporter said in an interview. “It is pretty devastating for all of the people who worked on that show who are now collateral damage as a result of their star’s racist beliefs.”
Contractual details for those involved with the show, including Barr, were not immediately clear, and would play out in the coming months.
Experts say high-profile figures in the television industry typically have contractual clauses that give them significant severance for shows that are not produced. Lower-level workers are generally out of luck at an unfortunate time. Though Roseanne and many shows just had their season finales, jobs for next season are mostly taken.
Co-star John Goodman commented briefly on Wednesday, telling The Hollywood Reporter he would “rather say nothing than to cause more trouble.”
“I wasn’t going to get an Emmy anyway,” he said. “I’ve been up there (11) times already, and if I didn’t get one, I’m not going to get one.”
Writer/producer Mindy Kaling tweeted to two of the co-stars: “Laurie Metcalf and John Goodman let me write good things for you.”
Alicia Goranson, who played Becky on the show, tweeted she was “devastated by the cancellation … But more devastating are the effects of hate speech and racism on individuals and society. Thank you for your support. And, in the spirit of our amazing crew, spread love not hate!”
Ben Sherwood, president of Disney-ABC Television Group, apologized in a memo Wednesday to “the many men and women who poured their hearts and lives into the show and were just getting started on next season. We’re so sorry they were swept up in all of this and we give thanks for their remarkable talents, wish them well, and hope to find another way to work together down the road.”
The cancellation came on the first day of meetings for the newly assembled writers for the fall season of Roseanne.
They arrived after Barr’s tweet, but before ABC president Channing Dungey’s announcement that the show was finished, leading to what executive producer and writer Dave Caplan said were “a lot of bittersweet hellos — and a couple hours later, a lot of very difficult goodbyes.”
“Everybody is still in shock at how quickly this all went down,” Caplan told The Hollywood Reporter on Wednesday. “It’s unfortunate because the writers did pass on other jobs to take this job and nobody really knows yet what kind of compensation they’re going to get.”
For cast and crew members that did have longer-term contracts, Barr’s show-sinking tweet could be deemed, strange as it sounds, an “act of God.” A “force majeure” or “act of God,” legally, is some unpredictable event such as an earthquake or a riot that changes the underlying circumstances.
“It means something outside of the control of the parties. Roseanne’s speech wasn’t in the control of ABC,” said F. Jay Dougherty, a professor who specializes in entertainment and media law at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. “It wouldn’t surprise me if this was treated by the studio like that kind of event, giving the studio a right to terminate contracts.”
Barr herself suggested on Twitter lately that she may try to take some action.
“You guys make me feel like fighting back,” Barr tweeted to her followers Wednesday. “I will examine all of my options carefully and get back to U.”
Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump escalated a feud with ABC in the wake of the cancellation, tweeting at the chief executive of parent company Disney.
Trump targeted Robert Iger on Twitter, saying: “Iger, where is my call of apology? You and ABC have offended millions of people, and they demand a response.”
Trump specifically complained about an erroneous report last year by an ABC investigative reporter Brian Ross, saying: “He tanked the market with an ABC lie, yet no apology. Double Standard!”
ABC did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Trump’s tweets. The network previously apologized for the report about Michael Flynn and suspended Ross and told him he could no longer report on Trump. ABC confirmed that Ross is back at work after his suspension.