Roseanne Barr, the star of ABC’s “Roseanne,” posted a racist comment on Twitter, which caused anger on May 29, 2018, leading “Roseanne” to be canceled by the ABC network.
The comment stated, “Muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby=vj.” Barr was referring to Valerie Jarrett, a former senator and aide to President Obama, in her remark. People understood this comment to be a racist remark by using the term “Muslim” as a race and “apes” to refer to African-Americans.
After five minutes, Barr deleted the tweet and apologized for her statement. She said that she was taking Ambien, and blamed the medication for her racism on Twitter. Barr referred to the incident as the result of an “Ambien haze.”
The medication creator, Sanofi, responded by tweeting that racism was not a side effect of their drug.
People of all races, religions and nationalities work at Sanofi every day to improve the lives of people around the world. While all pharmaceutical treatments have side effects, racism is not a known side effect of any Sanofi medication. — Sanofi US (@SanofiUS) May 30, 2018
Sophomore Ria Parikh says, “I believe that she should have kept the comment to herself. It was very hurtful of her to say that. Also, this has caused more people to see the racial discrimination that is happening in our world today because of their skin tone.”
Barr is known to have a history of posting controversial tweets. This was not the first time Barr targeted someone on Twitter. She has targeted Chelsea Clinton, calling her “Chelsea Soros Clinton,” accusing her of being married to billionaire George Soros’ nephew. Barr has accused Soros of being part of the Nazi SS, as well as inventing the Black Lives Matter movement and Antifa to “cause chaos.”
Sophomore Ava Colette says, “I believe that her tweet was extremely insensitive and racist. Although the ‘Roseanne’ reboot was a smash hit, I feel bad for all of the writers and actors on the show. Overall, somebody who’s considered to be unaccepting should not be given a large platform and audience.”
Since the show’s cancellation, ABC will feature a spin-off show focusing on Darlene Conner, the daughter of Barr’s character on the show.
What do you think of the impact Roseanne’s quote had on the cast of the tv show and others?