ABC says it has canceled the “Roseanne” reboot after its star Roseanne Barr sent a racist and Islamophobic tweet earlier Tuesday targeting former Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett.
ABC Entertainment President Channing Dungey said in a statement that Barr’s comment was ‘‘abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values, and we have decided to cancel the show.”
From Channing Dungey, President of ABC Entertainment: "Roseanne's Twitter statement is abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values, and we have decided to cancel her show."
— Robert Iger (@RobertIger) May 29, 2018
There was only one thing to do here, and that was the right thing.
The move came amid a swift and fierce backlash over Barr’s now-deleted tweet calling the former White House adviser, who is black, a mix between the “muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes.”
Barr’s comment came amid a series of tweets Tuesday morning aimed at billionaire Democratic donor George Soros, Chelsea Clinton, and Democrats generally.
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The “Roseanne” star was responding to another Twitter user who accused Jarrett of covering up misdeeds in the Obama administration.
Barr initially doubled down on her tweet as criticism mounted, claiming that it was both a “joke” and that “Islam is not a race.”
Later Tuesday morning, Barr apologized and said her “bad joke” was in poor taste. She also deleted the tweet aimed at Jarrett and said she would leave Twitter.
“Roseanne,” which had its first run on ABC in the late-’80s to the mid-’90s, was rebooted by the network earlier this year to huge ratings.
Before news of the cancellation, comedian Wanda Sykes, a consulting producer on “Roseanne,” announced on Twitter that she would no longer take part in the series.
I will not be returning to @RoseanneOnABC.
— Wanda Sykes (@iamwandasykes) May 29, 2018
Co-star Sara Gilbert also denounced Barr’s comments on Tuesday, saying they were not representative of the show as a whole.
“Roseanne’s 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,” she wrote, adding that she was “disappointed” by Barr’s comments.
Roseanne’s 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