After Roseanne Barr posted a tweet Tuesday morning comparing Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett to an ape, ABC has announced it has canceled the rebooted version of Roseanne, which had been the number-one show in television. Roseannes 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. Disney CEO Bob Iger added on Twitter thatthere was only one thing to do here, and that was the right thing.
Amid a flurry of Tuesday morning tweets, Barr likened Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett, who is African-American, to an ape. muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby=vj, she tweeted.
After trying to pass the slur off as a joke, Barr apologized and claimed she was leaving Twitter.
I apologize. I am now leaving Twitter.
Roseanne Barr (@therealroseanne) May 29, 2018
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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.
Roseanne Barr (@therealroseanne) May 29, 2018
Prior to comparing Jarrett to an ape, Barr spent hours Tuesday morning tweeting and retweeting a number of far-right conspiracy theories, most of them regarding the Clintons and George Soros. Donald Trump Jr. retweeted two of Barrs anti-Semetic tweets.
Following Barrs remark about Jarrett, Wanda Sykes, an African-American comedian and consulting producer on the show, tweeted Tuesday morning that she was leaving Roseanne.
I will not be returning to @RoseanneOnABC.
Wanda Sykes (@iamwandasykes) May 29, 2018
Sara Gilbert, Barrs co-star both during the shows original run and in the rebooted version, also tweeted her disappointment, although she did not announce any plans to leave Roseanne.
Roseannes 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.
sara gilbert (@THEsaragilbert) May 29, 2018
Emma Kenney, who played Darlenes daughter Harris, weighed in shortly after the show was canceled.
I am hurt, embarrassed, and disappointed. The racist and distasteful comments from Roseanne are inexcusable.
Emma Kenney (@EmmaRoseKenney) May 29, 2018
As I called my manager to quit working on Roseanne, I was told it was cancelled. I feel so empowered by @iamwandasykes , Channing Dungey and anyone at ABC standing up for morals and abuse of power. Bullies will NEVER win.
Emma Kenney (@EmmaRoseKenney) May 29, 2018
Roseanne showrunner Bruce Helford expressed similar sentiments. On behalf of all the writers and producers, we worked incredibly hard to create an amazing show, he said in a statement, according to The Hollywood Reporter. I was personally horrified and saddened by the comments and in no way do they reflect the values of the people who worked so hard to make this the iconic show that it is.
Management company ICM Partners also announced on Tuesday that it would cut ties with Barr. We are all greatly distressed by the disgraceful and unacceptable tweet from Roseanne Barr thismorning, ICM said in a statement. What she wrote is antithetical to our core values, both as individuals and as an agency. Consequently, we have notified her that we will not represent her. Effective immediately, Roseanne Barr is no longer a client.
Later on Tuesday, the show was pulled out of syndication by CMT, TV Land, the Paramount Network, The Laff and Australias Network Ten. Hulu also removed the show from its streaming services. We support ABCs decision and are removing the show from Hulu, a spokesperson said.
But Barrs vile tweet shouldnt come as a surprise. The comedian has a long history of espousing similarly problematic views. This inst even the first time shes compared an African American to an ape on Twitter. In 2013, she wrote that Obama National Security Adviser Susan Rice is a man with big swinging ape balls. Both that tweet and the tweet comparing Jarrett to an ape have been deleted.
The first season of the wildly successful and just as controversial reboot wrapped up last week. Both in real life and on the show, Roseanne is a Trump supporter, and like many Trump supporters and Trump himself shes quite fond of tweeting her displeasure with Democrats. To coincide with the season finale, AdWeek ran a cover story on Barr, and the topic of her Twitter account came up. After noting that she cant back off from whats really going on in the world, Barr admitted she planned to handle social media differently going forward. Im going to just try to talk about what Im for, rather than what Im against, she said.
After the reboots successful premiere in March, President Trump called Barr personally to congratulate her on her high ratings. That same week, ABC announced it was ordering a second season of the rebooted Roseanne, which went on to become the highest-rated show in television, ostensibly because of its pro-Trump bent. I just wanted to have that dialogue about families torn apart by the election and their political differences of opinion and how we handle it, Barr told the New York Times after the premiere. I thought that this was an important thing to say at this time.
This post has been updated with the latest information available.