ABC Cancels 'Roseanne' After Barr's Racist Tweet
NEW YORK (CBS News) -- Stellar ratings and an apology weren't enough to mitigate Roseanne Barr's racist comments, and now ABC is pulling the plug on "Roseanne."
UPDATE: Roseanne Unleashes New Tweetstorm Hours After Firing
ABC Entertainment president Channing Dungey said the network has decided to cancel the "Roseanne" reboot Tuesday.
Dungey said in a statement to CBS News, "Roseanne's Twitter statement is abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values, and we have decided to cancel her show." In 2016, Dungey made headlines when she became the first African-American to run the entertainment division of a major broadcast television network.
Earlier on Tuesday, Barr apologized for a racist tweet about Valerie Jarrett, a former senior advisor to President Barack Obama. Barr compared Jarrett, who is black, to an ape in a tweet. After initially pushing back against criticism of the comment, Barr admitted her "joke" was in "bad taste" and said she was leaving Twitter.
Barr's tweet about Jarrett said, "muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby=vj." Barr later deleted it and said she was sorry.
"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." But the apology was clearly not enough for ABC.
Earlier, Barr had rebuffed accusations of racism by insisting that "Islam is not a race." But her eventual admission that the joke was about Jarrett's "looks" seemed to confirm that the ape comment was indeed about Jarrett's appearance.
The offending tweet came late Monday night, amidst a series of tweets referring to George Soros as a Nazi and Chelsea Clinton as a Soros family member (Barr apologized and took it back, then attacked the family of Clinton's husband, Marc Mezvinsky, instead).
Barr is a vocal Trump supporter, as is her character on the "Roseanne" revival on ABC. President Trump called Barr to congratulate her after the first episode of the reboot scored record ratings.
The comedian Wanda Sykes, a consulting producer on the show, tweeted that she will not be returning in the wake of Barr's comments.
I will not be returning to @RoseanneOnABC.
— Wanda Sykes (@iamwandasykes) May 29, 2018
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