ABC Cancels 'Roseanne' Reboot After Controversial Tweet
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Roseanne Barr's show reboot is now barred from ABC.
The network's president canceled "Roseanne" after the comedian tweeted about former Obama advisor Valerie Jarrett.
In the now-deleted tweet, she wrote, "muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby = vj."
Barr soon apologized on Twitter saying her joke was in bad taste, but the incident had already struck more than a nerve. It angered and outraged many in Minneapolis
"As a naturalized citizen here I feel unwelcome to hear such kind of reactions like this," said Arthi Srinivasan of Minneapolis.
"This is what pro-Trump America looks now. People are more comfortable to say what they used to say behind closed doors," said Zackarie Mohamud of Minneapolis.
The revival of Barr's show about a working class family became a hit, popular among some conservatives because the star and the character Roseanne expressed support for President Donald Trump.
Earlier this year, the president congratulated Barr on the show's ratings.
"They were unbelievable!" Trump said. "Over 18 million people and it was about us!"
Keith Mayes, professor of African American and African Studies at the University of Minnesota, believes people are no longer keeping their opinions to themselves in the Trump-era.
"I would even argue the door has been swung wide open for people who are bigots, who are white supremacists," Mayes said. "This is part of a long tradition in the United States and it needs to be called out every time we hear something, every time it rears its head it needs to be called out and dealt with and dealt with swiftly."
Howard Lavine, professor of Political Science at the U of M, says this conversation is substantially about race, but calls it part of a larger cultural context. He thinks it will only further divide our nation.
"It's going to be seen as cutting to the core of two contrasting visions of America that at the moment are populated by distinct subgroups," Lavine said.
Several of Barr's on-and-off-screen colleagues quit the show in protest. Channing Dungey, ABC's president, called Barr's tweets "abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values."