Walt Disney Co.’s ABC cancelled the sitcom Roseanne after the star posted a racist tweet about a top aide of former President Barack Obama - Valerie Jarrett, an African-American woman and a senior adviser to the former President of Unite States.
The show had opened to stellar ratings in March and it also marked Roseanne Barr’s return to TV with the relaunch of her self-titled sitcom. Networks had started looking to the show for lessons on future reboots.
Merely two episodes of ABC's Roseanne revival averaged about 18.2 million viewers. President Trump reportedly called her to congratulate Barr on the achievement and even thanked the TV star for her political support.
But it all came to naught after her social media post, which she deleted later and for which she apologised. She initially defended it as a joke.
“Roseanne’s Twitter statement is abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values,” said ABC’s entertainment president, Channing Dungey, said in his statement.
The show was hailed by conservatives for its portrayal of white working-class Trump-supporting America. The sitcom’s third episode carried a joke about two ABC comedies with diverse casts, black-ish and Fresh Off the Boat, which drew some outrage.
Many vocal rightwing netizens were quick to leap to Roseanne’s defense.
“So Roseanne referencing a movie title is racist. Lying dishonest soulless freaks from Planet of the Apes.”Singer Ted Nugent
A repeat episode was replaced with a rerun of The Middle.
“It was really depressing that that one stupid sentence that she sent out destroyed a whole bunch of peoples’ jobs,” Bruce Rasmussen, an executive producer on the show lamented.
Sara Gilbert, who essays the role of Roseanne’s daughter said that she was “disappointed in her actions to say the least.”
She returned to Twitter soon after she said she was leaving the microblogging platform.
“Don’t feel sorry for me, guys!!” Barr wrote in a tweet. “I just want to apologize to the hundreds of people,and wonderful writers (all liberal) and talented actors who lost their jobs on my show due to my stupid tweet.”
With inputs from The New York Times.
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