Roseanne canned after racist tweet

Roseanne’s revival has ended after one season

US network ABC has cancelled hit sitcom Roseanne after its star Roseanne Barr made a racist comment on Twitter about an adviser to Barack Obama’s White House administration.

In a conversation with other users on the social platform, Barr wrote: “Muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby=vj” in reference to Valerie Jarrett, who was born in Iran to American parents.

Barr’s tweet faced instant backlash, with numerous commentators calling for ABC to drop her comedy. Comedian Wanda Sykes, who worked as a consulting producer of the most recent season of Roseanne, said she would no longer be working on the comedy following Barr’s comment. “I will not be returning to @RoseanneOnABC,” Sykes wrote on Twitter.

In a statement released yesterday, ABC Entertainment president Channing Dungey confirmed the network had cancelled the series.

“Roseanne’s Twitter statement is abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values, and we have decided to cancel her show,” Dungey said.

Dungey’s decision was backed by Bob Iger, CEO of ABC parent Disney, who said: “There was only one thing to do here, and that was the right thing.”

Channing Dungey

Barr deleted the tweet and issued an apology on Twitter to Jarrett saying: “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,” she wrote.

The demise of Roseanne is as steep and quick as its return to prominence. The show, which first ran between 1988 and 1997, was revived by ABC in 2017, with its first rebooted season (and 10th overall) airing in March this year. The revival was an immediate success, pulling in more than 18 million viewers for its first episode. Barr, a vocal Donald Trump supporter, was congratulated by the president in a personal phone call and on Twitter following the show’s triumphant return.

ABC subsequently commissioned another season, with the network committing to a 13-episode run. Barr was a prominent figure at ABC’s Upfront presentation in LA two weeks ago, with the network using the comedy as the catalyst for its fall schedule.

Roseanne’s unexpected prominence appeared to usher in a flurry of reboots across network television, with 1980s comedy Murphy Brown returning to CBS and 90s dramas Charmed and Roswell reimagined on The CW.

However, the show, which was estimated to have raked in US$45m in advertising revenue for ABC this year, is now on the scrapheap with its reputation sullied and writers and cast members out of a job.

Barr later apologised to the crew of Roseanne on Twitter, before saying she would be leaving the social media website. “Don’t feel sorry for me, guys!!-I just want to apologize to the hundreds of people, and wonderful writers (all liberal) and talented actors who lost their jobs on my show due to my stupid tweet,” she wrote.

Series showrunner Bruce Helford said in his own statement: “On behalf of all the writers and producers, we worked incredibly hard to create an amazing show. I was personally horrified and saddened by the comments and in no way do they reflect the values of the people who worked so hard to make this the iconic show that it is.”