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War of Words Breaks Out Between Roseanne Barr and Sitcom Writer Over Claims of Sexism

Jun 1, 2011  •  Post A Comment

Roseanne Barr is embroiled in a fight with sitcom writer Ken Levine, who has worked on shows such as "Cheers" and "Frasier," sparked by an article Barr wrote claiming that male television writers are sexist, reports New York Magazine’s Vulture blog.

In her New York Magazine article, called "And I Should Know" and published last month, Barr wrote, "Male writers have zero interest in being nice to women, including their own assistants, few of whom are ever promoted to the rank of ‘writer,’ even though they do all the work while the guys sit on their asses taking the credit."

Levine, who never worked with Barr, writes in a blog post, "As a male writer I find that insulting. As a male I find that insulting. And so misguided and ridiculous that it doesn’t even warrant a rebuttal."

At another point in his post, he says Barr "treated people like shit. Routinely. Constantly. Knowingly."

Barr responded to Levine’s post on her own blog, saying he doesn’t have respect for her as a writer "[b]ecause that person is female, that’s why." She concludes that she plans to ask several male writers to defend her in her blog. "Stay tuned," her post says.

4 Comments

  1. Playing the gender card instead of the race card. Textbook tactics from Identity Victimology 101.

  2. I suspect Levine doesn’t respect Barr for the same reason so many others (including other women) don’t respect her.
    It’s because she’s a jerk.
    How’s that for non-sexism?

  3. Roseanne may not have noticed, but Levine did give her credit for making the show as great as it was but it was clearly at a terrible cost to her reputation.
    That having been said, “Roseanne” remains one of the finest comedy series in television history — the final season notwithstanding.

  4. Last 3 seasons, actually. It was classic through 6 seasons, but then it became a long stretch of cast-juggling, shark-jumping babies, and plots that were flimsy excuses for her to make speeches, culminating in that bizarre final season that was simply a bad idea, badly executed. But yeah, the first 6 seasons are without doubt, some of the best comedy ever produced.

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