ABC TV network has cancelled comedian Roseanne Barr’s sitcom after she posted a racist tweet likening an African-American former Obama aide to an ape.
ABC said: “Roseanne’s Twitter statement is abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values and we have decided to cancel her show.”
Barr’s tweet said Valerie Jarrett was the child of the Muslim Brotherhood and the Planet of the Apes film.
The reboot of her hit ’90s sitcom “Roseanne” has been a ratings hit.
The comedian deleted Monday night’s post and said she was leaving Twitter, but later posted a flurry of tweets including one that said she was “tired of being attacked & belittled”.
“I apologise to Valerie Jarrett and to all Americans,” Barr wrote following the outcry, defending her remarks as a “joke”.
“I am truly sorry for making a bad joke about her politics and her looks. I should have known better. Forgive me-my joke was in bad taste.”
Barr’s initial tweet came in response to another Twitter user, who accused Mrs Jarrett of helping to conceal purported spying during the Obama administration.
Mrs Jarrett was a senior adviser to former US President Barack Obama, and worked with him during his early days in Chicago politics.
She was born in Iran to African-American parents.
What else did Barr say?
Mrs Jarrett was not the only target of Barr’s Twitter tirade in recent days.
On Monday, the 65-year-old entertainer claimed Chelsea Clinton – daughter of former US President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton – was married to a relative of billionaire investor George Soros in a tweet.
Barr tweeted an apology to Ms Clinton on Tuesday.
Barr also alleged Mr Soros, who is Jewish, was a Nazi collaborator – a claim his spokesman labelled “an affront”.
On Sunday, the comedian criticised the Obama family for signing on with Netflix to produce TV programmes and movies.
The comedian wrote on Tuesday she was “leaving Twitter”, but returned shortly after with a string of tweets addressing the cancelation of her sitcom.
“I will handle my sadness the way I want to,” she said. “I’m tired of being attacked and belittled more than other comedians who have said worse.”
“I’m not a racist, just an idiot who made a bad joke,” she said in another.
In another post, Barr said reruns of her sitcom had also been cancelled by other networks.
A spokesman for Viacom, which owns various networks including Paramount, earlier said it would stop airing old episodes. The streaming service Hulu also said it would be removing the sitcom from its library.
Barr also tweeted directly at Mrs Jarrett to apologise for her original comment, which she said was “insensitive & tasteless”.
Source: BBC
