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.
Jack
05/29/18 at 01:36pm
For those not versed in the law or politics:
Freedom of speech is freedom from government enforced speech restrictions, it doesn't affect private entities. ABC is not governed or limited in its private decisions by the Constitutional protection for free speech. Companies have corporate philosophies or they can also have customers they worry about losing and can fire someone because that person runs contrary to these goals. For the same reason the NFL just enforced standing for the flag by the players (which the Trump supporters seemed to applaud), ABC can fire those they don't want to provide a forum for. Freedom of speech is not freedom from repercussions, if you say something vile enough the public, customers and companies will not want to associate with you, as is their right. The government, though, is not allowed to punish you for your speech or shut it down.
Sherie
05/29/18 at 01:32pm
Leave it to Roseanne to ruin a good thing.
Whatever
05/29/18 at 01:32pm
Go somewhere else with that freedom of speech argument. Sure, we all can say what we want but we also must be prepared for the consequences of our words. I bet any other organization would have canned an employee for making such an insensitive/racist tweet. I'm not getting into the Trump angle beyond stating that although I am not a Trump supporter, I know several people who do support him who either aren't racist or aren't stupid enough to display their racism for all and sundry to see. Roseanne was less than smart and if her tweet hadn't hit her in the pockets or had such backlash I doubt we'd even have seen an "apology".
Sherry
05/29/18 at 01:28pm
Oh, please...ABC cancels everything, but they don't cancel "The VIEW
Ashlee
05/29/18 at 01:24pm
It was a horrible tweet, but I’ve seen much worse from the ladies from The View over the years. Hypocritical double standard from ABC. Now that The Middle is gone, I’ll give up on the network entirely. Didn’t really love the other shows I watched anyway. When Grey’s Anatomy had an anti-gay rant, they fired the actor and still have the show airing over a decade later. But nothing similar with this situation, just put everyone out of work. Hypocrites, ABC. This isn’t a Liberal or Conservative issue (and I’m neither, anyway) it’s about hurt feelings and generations who no longer know how to interact with each other. One says something offensive, the other cries and throws a fit, and both don’t realize that each of them need to man up.
Renee
05/29/18 at 01:21pm
Yes, the tweets were wild but has anyone ever seen tweets regarding OUR president? Freedom of speech has to go both ways. Please FOX, show these channels that you are pro freedom of speech and pick up rosanne.
Willie Mitch
05/29/18 at 01:02pm
Who cares. It was never really a good show. RB tries to hard.
John
05/29/18 at 01:00pm
Here we go again--a celebrity makes a comment and all hell breaks loose--cancelling of the show, network apologizing about "lack of values...". I"m sick of this! I don't care what she says or thinks! It's just another opinion! Did we really need to cancel her show over this? The last time I checked this is the U.S., correct? People say stupid things constantly- celebrities, regular people, our presidents. Do you think cancelling the show will make the public fall to its knees and say, yes, I agree, there is a lack of values; I'll stop watching the show immediately! And Wanda Sykes, lighten up! Oh, what a bold statement you made by removing yourself from the show. Who cares. I don't care that you're done with the show. Just get someone else to write for the next season. I'll still watch it.
Mitch
05/29/18 at 12:58pm
Who cares. Not a good show.
Real American
05/29/18 at 12:54pm
What happened to freedom of speech is ABC used it to not have a racist on their network. ABC is not the government and the amendment protects them.
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