Even though its “Roseanne” reboot has been one of the big ratings successes of recent months for ABC — and really for all of broadcast television — the network bit the bullet and pulled the plug on the show today following a controversial twitter rant by Roseanne Barr.
“Roseanne’s Twitter statement is abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values, and we have decided to cancel her show,” ABC said in a one-sentence statement released today.
Barr had already apologized for the Twitter post and announced that she was leaving Twitter.
CNN notes that Barr’s recent Twitter statements were focused largely on Valerie Jarrett, a top former aide to President Barack Obama. The report quotes a tweet from Barr in which she wrote: “Muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby=vj.”
Barr later sent out an apology, tweeting: “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.”
Another tweet from Barr, posted Monday, said simply, “Chelsea Soros Clinton.” CNN notes that Barr “later replied in the comments that Clinton is ‘married to Soros nephew.’ Soros is a billionaire liberal benefactor who has been the subject to many right-wing conspiracy theories over the years.”
Barr’s comments drew a response from Chelsea Clinton, who wrote: “Good morning Roseanne — my given middle name is Victoria. I imagine George Soros’s nephews are lovely people. I’m just not married to one.”
Barr answered Clinton’s tweet with the message: “Sorry to have tweeted incorrect info about you! Please forgive me!”
“She then continued, ‘By the way, George Soros is a nazi who turned in his fellow Jews 2 be murdered in German concentration camps & stole their wealth-were you aware of that? But, we all make mistakes, right Chelsea?,'” CNN reports, adding: “This is a conspiracy theory about Soros that has been debunked many times. The fact-checking site Snopes called it ‘false’ back in 2016.”
The pig in the slop never gets clean.
Roseanne:
A little to late. Kudos to ABC and Disney for recognizing your horrible insensitive Tweets. I hope you live and learn.
I feel bad for the hard working staff and crew members who will probably lose their jobs because of one person’s stupid and racist tweet.
Also she seems to be an anti-semtiic Jew. Sad. With Roseanne Barr, you always know her mouth will get her in trouble and end up in self destruction. Let’s hope she is not heard from again.
ABC should recast her character on the show, or re-name the show “The Connors”. Other sitcoms have survived a major cast departure — like NBC did when Valerie Harper was dumped from “Valerie” during the 1980s. ABC, the show’s working staff, not to mention the large viewing public, shouldn’t be penalized for Roseanne Barr’s offensive Twitter remarks.