ABC has announced that it has decided to pull the plug on its Roseanne revival after star Roseanne Barr posted a racist tweet attacking Valerie Jarrett, an advisor to former President Barack Obama.
Barr caused an outcry yesterday with a now-deleted tweet which stated “Muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby=vj.” The outspoken actress and comedian initially denied that the tweet was racist, before issuing an apology. However, that hasn’t prevented the network from taking swift action.
“Roseanne’s Twitter statement is abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values, and we have decided to cancel her show,” said ABC Entertainment president Channing Dungey, with Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger adding that “There was only one thing to do here, and that was the right thing.”
The revival of the beloved sitcom had been performing exceptionally well for ABC, averaging over 22 million viewers per episode when taking time shifting into account, and was the most-watched series of last season, coming ahead of NBC’s This Is Us and CBS’ The Big Bang Theory. A new season of 13 episodes had been ordered for the 2018-2019 season
Via THR
