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.