Racist tweets bring an end to comedy's biggest comeback.
May 29, 2018
Just two months after picking up Roseanne for an 11th season, ABC has reversed the move. The cancellation comes after show star Roseanne Barr took to Twitter with a series of racist and anti-semitic posts. The most offending being a now-deleted tweet calling adviser to former President Barack Obama, Valerie Jarrett, an offspring of the “Muslim Brotherhood & Planet of the Apes.”
The backlash that followed was immediate and intense, with numerous celebrities and pundits speaking out against her remarks. Barr subsequently apologized, calling the tweet a joke, but it was too late. The damage had been done.
Comedian Wanda Sykes was the first person involved with the show to make a move, announcing her departure from writing on Season 2 this morning. But that was just the beginning, as mere hours later, ABC Entertainment chief Channing Dungey announced that the network was cancelling the show due to her "abhorrent, repugnant" words that were "inconsistent with our values."
The decision was obviously not made lightly, as Roseanne's comeback was the biggest success story ever for a revived series. The show's Season 10 premiere in March surpassed all expectations by drawing a massive audience of 18 million viewers with an impressive 5.2 rating in the adults 18-49 demographic. Those numbers are almost unheard of nowadays, especially for broadcast comedies.
But now instead of going on another likely-lengthy run, Roseanne's revival ends after just nine episodes, with the now-series finale airing one week ago.
MojoJojo
05/29/18 at 03:08pm
Remember, this has nothing to do with Freedom of Speech. She works for a company (ABC Network) that's is owned by the House that Mickey Mouse built - Disney Corporation. And they have a big morality clause. They don't like bad publicity or any racist-tic. She may work for ABC but Mickey Mouse signs her checks. And when you get on Disney's bad side, you're Done.
Sue
05/29/18 at 03:04pm
Companies don't want racist people representing them. I don't know if some of you have heard, but racial discrimination is against the law. And hate speech should get you banned and blocked and fired from most things if management stays on top of it. I commend ABC for their swift response. They went straight to the point and didn't hesitate. They are a business and a brand first and they don't have to hire you racist people. You're not entitled to a show and you'd f-up their image with your hateful attitude. Rosanne is a racist idiot. I shed nary a tear, she got what she deserved. She ran her filthy mouth. Nobody stopped her. That's her freedom of speech- (which applies to the government anyway). And ABC fired her. That's their right. But leave it to some of you to make excuses for her actions. The obsession with black people and the entitlement of thinking you can say and do anything you want to them is real in some of you people.
MojoJojo
05/29/18 at 02:59pm
Rosanne Barr has pretty much made herself Hollywood and television kryptonite . . . once again. I seen her do this before in '89 and in the 90s. As Rosanne, as she has stated many times over the years, is a long time Socialist, she likes (more like is addicted) to pushing limits. She's said herself, she's not on the Left or the Right politically. Back in the 80s you could get away with a lot more shit than you can today. Like a behind the times GrandMa, she keeps saying these outlandish comments until she sticks her foot in her mouth and goes one too far. And she's always been like that since she was young during her stand-up days. Hell, she dressed up like a Nazi-Hitler type and made Auschwitz cookies and seemed surprised that people made a big thing about it. She tried to make herself like a 90s Melissa McCarthy type and break into movie career with the hype from her original series run but after a series of flops that move was done. By the late 90s the times were a changing. With the statements that Rosanne Barr said recently in today's political and social environment they simple don't fly. I feel bad for all the supporting cast and employees behind the show since they all have to find new work and reschedule their commitments.
Vera Covarrubias
05/29/18 at 02:59pm
Good. We don't need racists on the air.
JP
05/29/18 at 02:58pm
Meanwhile, every day over on The View, those liberal hens spew whatever vile comments they want with regard to Donald Trump. ABC's response.....crickets chirping....
Kevin
05/29/18 at 02:56pm
Freedom of speech does not equate to Freedom from repercussions of speech. Good riddance racist garbage.
Sara
05/29/18 at 02:56pm
Typical double standard by ABC. It's okay for The View wenches to spew their venom about anyone and anything. Anyone can bash whites or Christians and there are crickets. I thought Darwin said man descended from apes, so guess he was racist, too!!!
Big Erns
05/29/18 at 02:28pm
It is not racist to compare a human to an ape if u believe in evolution, newsflash: we descended from apes! If your white & offended by someone comparing a black person to an ape, then you're the racist for thinking black people look like apes!!! If your black & offended by another black person being compared to apes then u have a complex. Some White people look like apes, some Black people look like apes, some Asians look like apes, wonder why
Penedono
05/29/18 at 02:20pm
Well, don't tweet about black people being apes while you work for Disney, Roseanne. Gilbert and Cummings saw this coming, warned the network, and ran fast - shout out to the smart ladies in the group.
Debbie D
05/29/18 at 01:38pm
This is not a matter of freedom of speech, no matter if you think what RB said was okay or not. Freedom of speech is the government not being allowed to stop an individual from speaking their mind. The government did not tell ABC to cancel the show. No, this is not a matter of freedom of speech at all. It is a matter of RB's business relationship with ABC. Like it or not, people associate what RB says with the company that employs her. If the company does not want to be associated with what she says, it has the right to sever the relationship.
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