Roseanne Barr skewered and defended after ABC canned her show
Following the cancellation of “Roseanne” Tuesday after star Roseanne Barr apologized for a racist tweet, public opinion about ABC’s decision swung both ways.
Barr prompted the controversy early Tuesday when she invoked “The Planet of the Apes” and the Muslim Brotherhood to describe Valerie Jarrett, a former aide to President Obama. After ABC canned the upcoming second season of her show, Barr was also dropped by her talent agency, ICM Partners.
Bob Iger, the chief executive and chairman of Disney, tweeted ABC Entertainment President Channing Dungey’s statement, adding his own seal of approval. (Disney owns ABC.)
High-profile TV producer Shonda Rhimes first thanked Dungey, then went on with a couple more tweets before retweeting actor Josh Gad.
Meanwhile, others were supportive of Barr, who said Tuesday morning that she was leaving Twitter.
Merriam-Webster got in on the fun, too, with the dictionary explaining the definition of “abhorrent,” which had been used a few times to describe Barr’s remarks about Jarrett.
Kathy Griffin, in an unusually profanity-free thread — we’ll just post a couple of her thoughts — saw a broader picture, tying into #MeToo concerns and stating that ABC’s decision was not “some turning point.”
And Charlie Sheen, bidding good riddance to Barr, used the opportunity to pitch his own return to television
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UPDATES:
3:55 p.m.: This article was updated with additional reactions.
This story was originally published at 2 p.m.
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