Roseanne Cancelled: ABC Scraps Season 11 Following Roseanne Barr's 'Repugnant' Racist Twitter Rant
ABC has put an end to the PR nightmare that is Roseanne, cancelling the revived comedy in the wake of star Roseanne Barr’s racist Twitter tirade.
In a statement, Channing Dungey, president of ABC said, “Roseanne’s Twitter statement is abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values, and we have decided to cancel her show.”
The move came just moments after Barr’s TV daughter, Sara Gilbert, released her own statement, condemning the outburst.
In a pair of tweets, Gilbert called her TV’s mom’s Tuesday-morning tirade — in which she described African-American former Obama advisor Valerie Jarrett as a combination of the Muslim Brotherhood and Planet of the Apes in a since-deleted tweet — “abhorrent,” adding that the remark does “not reflect the beliefs of our cast and crew or anyone associated with our show. I am disappointed in her actions to say the least.”
Gilbert continued, “This is incredibly sad and difficult for all of us, as we’ve created a show that we believe in, are proud of, and that audiences love — one that is separate and apart from the opinions and words of one cast member.”
Barr — whose unapologetic support of President Trump bled into the show’s storyline (i.e. her character was also an out-and-proud Trumper) — later apologized for the remark before announcing that she was quitting Twitter.
Video: Valerie Jarrett Responds to Roseanne Barr Comments
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In the immediate aftermath of Barr’s outburst, consulting producer Wanda Sykes announced that she would not be back for Season 11. It was the show’s second major departure; Whitney Cummings, who served as co-showrunner for Season 10, recently stepped down. She cited “work commitments and my tour schedule” as the reasons for her exit.
ABC’s Roseanne revival was an out-of-the-gate smash. The two-episode premiere averaged 18.2 million total viewers and a 5.2 demo rating, making it the highest-rated comedy telecast in three-and-a-half years. And with just one day of DVR playback factored in, those numbers already swell to 21.9 mil/6.2.
Within four days of the March premiere, ABC already pulled the trigger on an 11th season. “We’re thrilled that America has welcomed the Conner family back into their homes,” Dungey said at the time. “The show is as fresh and relevant today as it was when it left the air 21 years ago. We can’t wait to see what the Roseanne team has in store for next year.”
Disney CEO Robert Iger also released a statement about the decision to cancel the show, noting, “There was only one thing to do here, and that was the right thing.”
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