ABC Cancels 'Roseanne' After Barr's Racist Remark
- by Wayne Friedman , May 29, 2018
After racist remarks on Twitter from Roseanne Barr, ABC has abruptly and dramatically cancelled “Roseanne” — which this season rose to become the No. 1 broadcast TV entertainment show among key viewers.
Early Tuesday morning, Barr tweeted a remark, where she referred to former top President Obama aide Valerie Jarrett: "muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby=vj."
Barr insisted it was a joke: “I apologize 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.”
Following this, Wanda Sykes, consulting producer on “Roseanne,” tweeted that she was leaving the show.
ABC quickly responded as well.
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Channing Dungey, president of ABC Entertainment, issued a statement: "Roseanne's Twitter statement is abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values, and we have decided to cancel her show."
For its March 27 premiere, the show shocked many TV analysts, earning a Nielsen 18.4 million total viewers and a 5.2 rating among adults 18-49 viewers. After eight shows this season, "Roseanne" has been averaging 13.5 million viewers and a 3.5 rating among 18-49 viewers.
The show’s 3.5 rating is the best among all entertainment shows, positioning it in second place after CBS' “The Big Bang Theory” among all viewers -- 14.0 million to 13.5 million.
The original “Roseanne” show ran on ABC from 1988 to 1997.
For ABC this season, “Roseanne” has pulled in $39.6 million in national TV advertising since its debut, according to iSpot.tv. More than 500 different brands aired on the show this season.
Major spenders on the show include: PepsiCo, Samsung Mobile, McDonald’s, T-Mobile, Hotels.com, Lyrica, Microsoft, Mountain Dew, Netflix, Warner Bros, Hotels.com and Pet Smart.
Mid-day Tuesday trading of Walt Disney stock was down 2.6% to $99.56.
It never fails to amaze me how many celebrities forget that when they vent their hatred and rage by tweeting online, everyone will take note and there will be bad consequences. I wonder if Barr gets it that her behaviour affects many people ---actors, writers, directors, others, associated with her show and dependeing on her----probably not. Sad.
Perhaps, hopefully, ABC`s immediate and certainly costly action will set the bar for similar actions by `celebrities` who believe they are free of the restraints of a civilized society. Money must come second to doing the right thing.
Disney. This downward 2.6% shall pass. It is not due to this monster; there are other problems.