In working with Roseanne, ABC played with fire, got burned
Yet while the show aired over the last two months, things mostly went well. The 2018 "Roseanne" defied the odds for sitcom remakes and was a smash hit, earning an almost immediate renewal for next season.
It was able to tackle contemporary issues from income inequality to overt racism and earn mostly praise from critics. And until
But then Barr published a racist tweet about former
"Muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby = vj," wrote Barr overnight Tuesday, in response to a Twitter mention of Jarrett, the fixture in the
Midday Tuesday, the network canceled the second season of the series, despite it ending 2017-18 with the second-largest audience among scripted shows. The swift reaction, which came despite Barr deleting and apologizing for the tweet, suggested the entertainment world continues down a path of diminished tolerance for the misdeeds of even its biggest moneymakers.
"Roseanne's Twitter statement is abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values, and we have decided to cancel her show," said
The decision was backed by her boss,
Even Barr's talent agency had enough. ICM, asserting that it has "core values," announced in a letter to employees that it had fired its client, Barr, over her "disgraceful and unacceptable tweet."
As for Jarrett, the 62-year-old
But perhaps she was waiting to talk because she knew she would be a panelist at an
There, Jarrett said
Jarrett reported that Iger called her ahead of time to tell her he would not tolerate such remarks.
"He wanted me to know before he made it public that he was canceling the show," she said.
In this era of #MeToo repercussions, even runaway success is proving no insulation.
The pressure on
Even before the network's announcement,
Gilbert also suggested Barr had more than one tweet to answer for: "Roseanne's recent comments about
It's the "so much more" that suggests everybody who participated in this enterprise knew it might end badly. The argument for doing it anyway is that maybe it's a positive influence on Barr and that the show is able to get across messages of tolerance and of understanding a segment of American society that TV rarely treats with empathy.
Indeed, one of the things that made the tale of
"Our cast, crew, writers and production staff strived for inclusiveness, with numerous storylines designed to reflect inclusiveness," said "Roseanne" actor
The show was also canny enough to tackle head-on some of the controversy surrounding its star. Barr's support of
Later in the year, an episode had Barr's character voice racist fears about new Muslim neighbors before getting a "comeuppance" that
But knowing what you ought to do to keep your business going and being able to restrain yourself in the middle of the night are two separate challenges. Barr has a history of pushing far-fetched conspiracy theories on Twitter, including the laughable and repeatedly debunked notion that top
The tweet that finally forced the hand of those who would apologize for Barr as merely iconoclastic or controversial followed a thread saying
"Jarrett helped hide a lot," said one Twitter user.
And that was all it took to inspire Barr to bring up "Planet of the Apes."
In apologizing in the light of morning, Barr dug herself an even deeper hole: She said she was "truly sorry for the bad joke about (Jarrett's) politics and her looks" -- which implies that she still saw validity in the physical comparison. She also said, as she has in the past during Twitter controversy, that she was leaving the digital publishing platform.
Not long after, she learned she'll be leaving other things, too: a hit TV show, a network, an improbable comeback and, in all likelihood, any hope of a mainstream career.
___
(c)2018 the Chicago Tribune
Visit the Chicago Tribune at www.chicagotribune.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Advisor News
Annuity News
Health/Employee Benefits News
Life Insurance News