Roseanne's Racist Tweet Outrages the Internet

Megan Friedman
Updated
Photo credit: Getty Images
Photo credit: Getty Images

From ELLE

Roseanne Barr apologized and said she’s leaving Twitter after she tweeted a racist comment about former White House adviser Valerie Jarrett Tuesday morning. Though the tweet appears to have been deleted, Politico reported that it read, “muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby=vj.” Jarrett, who is African-American and was born in Iran, declined to comment to Politico through a spokesperson.

Barr, who initially dismissed the comments as just a joke, apologized for her comment Tuesday. “I should have known better,” she wrote. “Forgive me- my joke was in bad taste.” She then claimed to be leaving Twitter.

But the damage was already done. Celebrities and public figures like Rosie O’Donnell, Don Cheadle, and April Ryan called out Barr for the comment. And Wanda Sykes, who wrote on the show’s first revival season, announced she would not be returning for Season 2.

Barr has been called out frequently for her incendiary tweets, and this wasn’t even the only incident that day. She erroneously said Chelsea Clinton was married to a nephew of George Soros, and after Clinton corrected her, erroneously claimed Soros was a Nazi.

Others, including Joe Scarborough and Al Sharpton, specifically called on ABC, which airs Roseanne, to take action. Barr’s tweets came a week after the season finale of the Roseanne revival, which has been picked up for a second season after breaking ratings records.

According to CNN, ABC executives have privately said they "hold their noses" whenever Barr tweets. But this may have taken things too far. The network has not responded to Elle.com's request for comment.

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