ABC Cancels “Roseanne” After Racist Tweet Comparing Obama Adviser to “Ape”

The move came after Barr played at Trumpism for years.

Kristin Callahan/ZUMA Press

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.

ABC announced Tuesday afternoon that it was canceling “Roseanne” amid outrage sparked by its namesake star, Roseanne Barr, who posted racist comments on Twitter mere hours before. The Trump-supporting comedian described Valerie Jarrett, an African American senior adviser to former President Barack Obama, as the spawn of the Muslim Brotherhood and the film “The Planet of the Apes.” 

“Roseanne’s Twitter statement is abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values, and we have decided to cancel the show,” the network announced in a statement. Barr has yet to respond to the cancellation, but earlier Tuesday, she deleted the tweet and issued an apology, calling the tweet a “joke” made in “bad taste.”

While Barr’s tweet—posted as part of an unrelated thread that cited a false conspiracy theory alleging illegal surveillance by the Obama administration—prompted shock on Tuesday, many were quick to note how well the comedian’s racist comparison fit into her past as a social media troll.

Long before ABC’s decision to green-light a reboot of the hit 1990’s sitcom, Barr spent time fanning the flames of baseless conspiracy theories popularized on right-wing platforms, including Pizzagate and anti-Obama birther theories. Those past tweets didn’t stop with ABC’s revival of “Roseanne”; Barr continued to promote such theories, including one that accused Parkland mass shooting survivor David Hogg of giving a Nazi salute.

ABC faced a fierce backlash. Wanda Sykes, a producer the revival of the sitcom, announced that she was done with “Roseanne.” Sara Gilbert, who plays Barr’s daughter on the show, condemned Barr’s tweet and “so much more”—apparently in reference to Barr’s history of spreading hateful rhetoric online. 

Fact:

Mother Jones was founded as a nonprofit in 1976 because we knew corporations and billionaires wouldn't fund the type of hard-hitting journalism we set out to do.

Today, reader support makes up about two-thirds of our budget, allows us to dig deep on stories that matter, and lets us keep our reporting free for everyone. If you value what you get from Mother Jones, please join us with a tax-deductible donation today so we can keep on doing the type of journalism 2024 demands.

payment methods

Fact:

Today, reader support makes up about two-thirds of our budget, allows us to dig deep on stories that matter, and lets us keep our reporting free for everyone. If you value what you get from Mother Jones, please join us with a tax-deductible donation today so we can keep on doing the type of journalism 2024 demands.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate