Roseanne Barr has been in the public eye quite a lot recently, and not for good reasons. Her show was canceled and she was fired after she took to Twitter and let loose with a storm of racist comments. The worst of them was, “Muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby=vj.” This tweet was referencing Valerie Jarrett, formerly a top assistant to President Barack Obama.
ABC canceled her show right after the tweets came to light, and at first, she was entirely apologetic. She even claimed that she was, “done with Twitter,” yet she continues to tweet and tweet.
“I apologize to Valerie Jarrett and to all Americans. I am truly sorry for making a bad joke about her politics and her looks,” Barr wrote on the morning of May 29. “I should have known better. Forgive me-my joke was in bad taste.
Barr’s co-stars were understandably disappointed in her actions, and many of them took to Twitter to voice their opinions. Rather than apologize to them, she decided to fire back and completely ruin any shred of credibility she may have still had in the public eye.
While some will say that Barr was just making a joke and perhaps didn’t know what she was saying, it’s important for us to take these situations seriously. Our country is at an interesting point and it’s no accident that Barr felt it was appropriate to post a tweet like that. She clearly didn’t expect the backlash that she received, and that’s a problem.
Roseanne’s co-star John Goodman commented on the situation by… not commenting on it. He was quoted as saying, “I don’t know anything about it. I don’t read it.”
When asked about the cancellation itself, he responded by saying that he wasn’t going to “get an Emmy anyway.” Goodman and fellow star Laurie Metcalf are disappointed that the popular reboot was canceled, but this time, the show must not go on.
Both of them were called out by Barr in an apologetic tweet. She wrote, “I just wish ABC had not thrown two of the greatest actors in the world out with me- Laurie (Metcalf) and John. I’m sick over this-they will never have better character actors on their network.”
She stepped up her defense on Wednesday morning, tweeting out that she is not a racist in any way, shape or form. The tweet was a “stupid joke,” to her, but clearly, it means more to the rest of the world.
“I’m not a racist, I never was & I never will be,” she tweeted. “One stupid joke in a lifetime of fighting 4 civil rights 4 all minorities, against networks, studios, at the expense of my nervous system/family/wealth will NEVER be taken from me.”
Now Roseanne is pointing fingers for the reason her show was canceled at an unlikely target: Michelle Obama.
Roseanne has said that Michelle Obama was responsible because the head of ABC, Channing Dungey, had a long phone conversation with the former First Lady once the tweet started making headlines. It is rumored that Mrs. Obama was adamant that an apology was not enough to punish the television star.
Roseanne was also quick to point out that this is all happening shortly before the Obamas are launching their own Netflix television show. Perhaps Michelle and Barack were worried about losing ratings to Roseanne?
After the backlash, Roseanne isn’t just feeling the pain from her current network either. Viacom has dropped reruns of the old Roseanne due to the tweets she wrote and that’s going to hit her where it really hurts once again – her wallet.
Do you think Roseanne is getting the response she deserves for her comments? Share your thoughts
