Roseanne Barr Tweets Racist Comment; ABC Says Nothing [UPDATE: ABC Cancels Roseanne]

Ken AshfordBreaking News, Popular Culture, RaceLeave a Comment

Barr is currently starring in a wildly successful reboot of her old comedy series “Roseanne” on ABC, but has faced rising backlash from some online over her combative Twitter presence.  Despit that, her show was renewed for another season two months ago. Trump called Barr to personally congratulate her after her show debuted to a massive 18.2 million viewers in March

It’s not the first time Roseanne has raised eyebrows on Twitter. In the past she has also used the platform to promote conspiracies and fake news including this one, falsely suggesting that President Trump had secretly broken up sex trafficking and pedophile rings around the world.

But she may have outdone herself today.  In response to an article in a right-wing website (a false article, of course), Roseanne Barr offered a tweet comment:

During the Obama administration, rumors swirled on right-wing blogs that Obama White House aide Valerie Jarrett secretly intended to promote Islam in the United States and that she once expressed her desire to make America a “more Islamic country.” The fact-checking website Snopes ruled that claim to be false.

She is saying that Obama aide Valerie Jarrett is the child of Muslim Brotherhood and Planet of the Apes, a clearly racist tweet.

She also retweeted pieces accusing Jarrett’s mother of being a communist, among dozens of other retweets today. Other topics included falsely claiming that Chelsea Clinton was related by marriage to billionaire liberal activist George Soros, prompting a brief back and forth with Clinton, capped by Barr’s sharing of a false but widespread conspiracy theory about Soros.

Donald Trump Jr retweeted the above tweet.

Barr later apologized for her Jarrett “joke” but only after trying to defend herself:

But it was too late.  Wanda Sykes, a cast member and consulting producer, announced half an hour ago that she is quitting the show.

And BREAKING NEWS…. as I was typing this….

Another cast member was on her way to quitting…

Cue the cries from the right that Barr is the victim of “censorship” in three, two, one…..

Also, Trump tweeted praise for Roseanne when the show’s reboot debuted a few months ago.  What will he tweet now?  More dogwhistles to his racist base?

UPDATE — her talent agency drops her too.

TV Line reports:

Following ABC’s decision to scrap Roseanne‘s 11th season, the agency ICM Partners has dropped Roseanne Barr as a client after she published a racist tweet Tuesday morning. The move was announced in the following email to ICM employees:

“We are all greatly distressed by the disgraceful and unacceptable tweet from Roseanne Barr this morning. What she wrote is antithetical to our core values, both as individuals and as an agency. Consequently, we have notified her that we will not represent her. Effective immediately, Roseanne Barr is no longer a client.”