Last night, Roseanne Barr posted a racist tweet about Valerie Jarrett, an African-American woman who was Barack Obama’s senior advisor throughout his presidency.
The tweet, which has now been deleted, the 65-year-old comedian compared Jarrett to an ape, saying it was like the “muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby”.
Within a matter of hours, ABC announced they would be cancelling Barr’s rebooted TV show, Roseanne, refusing to stand by one of the network’s biggest stars and money spinners.
“Roseanne’s Twitter statement is abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values, and we have decided to cancel her show,” ABC Entertainment president Channing Dungey said in a statement.
Closer to home, Network Ten – who was housing the show’s reboot on Australian soil – echoed ABC’s statement with their own.
“Network Ten is appalled and disgusted with Ms Barr’s racist tweet and has removed Roseanne from TEN and ELEVEN, effective immediately,” Ten said.
While public sentiment is firmly on the ABC wave of no tolerance, this is far from the first time Barr as generated controversy regarding her many and varied views.
