Susan Wright on the Right
I’m not sure what happened to Rosanne Barr in the years between the end of her original self-titled ABC television sitcom series and the reboot that emerged to such praise, but apparently, feigning an embrace of the Trump crowd has gone to her head.
In a series of tweets that began on Monday night, the comedienne began addressing Chelsea Clinton, moved on to George Soros, the 88 year old investor and far left donor, then she landed with a splat in a tweet that attacked former adviser for the Barack Obama White House, Valerie Jarrett.
In the tweet, the ABC star attacked Jarett, who was born in Iran, as a child of the Islamist organization Muslim Brotherhood and the movie “Planet of the Apes.”
“Muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby=vj,” Barr wrote, using Jarrett’s initials and responding to a tweet accusing the former Obama adviser of helping “hide” misdeeds for the Obama administration.
Ok. Wow.
I’m no fan of Barack Obama, Valerie Jarrett, or a single thing to ever come out of the horrendous Obama years, but there’s no sense in being an idiot, and that’s exactly what this was: idiotic.
The internet is a swift and thorough beast, and the backlash for her statement came immediately.
http://twitter.com/therealroseanne/status/1001471669641216005
I don’t know who has reached out to Barr since her initial statement, or since her apology, but the backlash has not been limited to simply the online community of anonymous or random Twitter users.
Wanda Sykes, a fellow comedienne, who also happens to be black, has served as a consulting producer on the first season of the revived comedy. Her reaction to the day’s controversy was equally swift.
She will not be returning.
I will not be returning to @RoseanneOnABC.
— Wanda Sykes (@iamwandasykes) May 29, 2018
Just like that.
Sara Gilbert, who stars as daughter “Darlene” on the show issued a statement, as well, calling the comments “abhorrent.”
In a series of tweets, Gilbert said Barr’s comments did not reflect the views or values of the cast and crew. She expressed her disappointment in several tweets:
Roseanne’s recent comments about Valerie Jarrett, and so much more, are abhorrent and do 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.
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.
And if the fallout seemed bad at first, it would soon get so much worse.
Even as I was writing this up, the news broke that ABC had made the decision to pull the plug on what has been a very successful reboot.
I don’t understand why Barr felt this was “ok,” but if we’ve gathered nothing from how these things play out over the last few years, it’s that you can’t toss such “jokes” out there on social media and not expect backlash.
Goodbye, Roseanne. Your visit to the mountain top was blessedly brief.
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