ABC cancels Roseanne show after racist tweets

ABC TV network has cancelled comedian Roseanne Barr’s show, Roseanne, after she posted a racist tweet likening an African-American former Obama aide to an ape.

ABC said they decided to cancel the show as her Tweet was inconsistent with their values. They wrote;

“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.

Barr deleted Monday night’s post and said she was leaving Twitter, but later posted a flurry of tweets including one that said she made the comment after taking a sedative. Barr wrote following the outcry, defending her remarks as a “joke”. She wrote;

“I apologise to Valerie Jarrett and to all Americans,”

“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.”

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”.

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.