In late May, Roseanne Barr, the vociferously vocal and controversial outspoken and faithful supporter of Pres. Donald Trump apologized for describing former Pres. Barack Obama senior advisor Valerie Jarrett as the offspring of the “muslim brotherhood and Planet of the Apes.” Barr apologized to Jarrett and “all Americans” for making a “bad joke about her politics and her looks.”
Jarrett is African-American.
“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. I apologize. I am now leaving Twitter,” she tweeted on May 29. Of course she did not leave Twitter.
Previously Barr rejected the accusation her tweet was racist saying “Islam is not a race,” but the language in the mea culpa tweet referred to Jarrett’s appearance: her “looks.”
The apology could not save her. Executives at ABC and its parent company, Disney, pulled the plug on “Roseanne,” the as of then popular albeit controversial reboot of her original show. ABC Entertainment president Channing Dungey issued a one-line statement: “Roseanne’s Twitter statement is abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values, and we have decided to cancel her show.”
That was followed up by CEO of the Walt Disney Company Bob Iger’s tweet:
From Channing Dungey, President of ABC Entertainment: “Roseanne’s Twitter statement is abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values, and we have decided to cancel her show.”
There was only one thing to do here, and that was the right thing.
With Twitter being the global conference room, Barr tweeted out an apology to cast, crew and writers but the damage had been done.
“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 on Twitter.
Barr’s original tweet about Jarrett was part of a larger tweetstorm by the actor, who lives in Hawaii, and included anti Semitic remarks, her calling George Soros a Nazi and saying Chelsea Clinton was related to Soros, which she took back and then went after Marc Mezvinsky, Clinton’s husband.
In the new 1-minute video posted to the Roseanne Barr YouTube channel late Thursday July 19, it’s staged as if Roseanne is being briefed for an interview, when the interviewer questions Barr about video of her which was apparently substantially edited and wherein she has three wardrobe changes, and while it’s unclear where the interview or set-up was going, Barr looks to be agitated or manic and then screams, “I thought the bitch was white!”
Here’s the full video:
Titled, “Roseanne, like always, cuts through the bullshit and gets the heart of the matter,” the YouTube video from her official channel has around 3000 views and hundreds of comments, many praising the comedian.
ABC announced in late June that the show would be back, but without Roseanne. ‘The Connors’ slated for a fall 2018 premiere with its 8 p.m. Tuesday night slot, will star the original cast: John Goodman, as Dan; Laurie Metcalf, as Jackie; Sara Gilbert as Darlene, Lecy Goranson as Becky and Michael Fishman as DJ.
WWG1WGA
Meanwhile, Barr is still tweeting and said she’d be sharing content on her YouTube channel. In a recent tweet, Barr embraced #QAnon, the far-right conspiracy best described in this video:
Barr took to YouTube again on Friday afternoon to “speak for myself to my fellow and sister Americans without the filter of the biased media.” In teh 1-minute video, Barr now with makeup, calm and poised, says she told ABC from the start she thought Jarrett was white.
When ABC called and asked to me explain my egregious and unforgivable tweet (annotated with air quotes) I told them I thought Valerie Jarrett was white.”
But the denouement is what she says at the end. She claims her show was canceled because “I voted for Donald Trump and that’s not allowed in Hollywood.”