White House Mum About 'Roseanne' Reboot Cancelation
White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders kept mum about the decision of ABC to cancel the second season of "Roseanne" reboot due to its lead star's racist Twitter post.
During a press briefing at the Air Force One, Huckabee Sanders was asked about President Donald Trump's thoughts regarding the controversial tweet of Roseanne Barr, one of his most vocal celebrity supporters.
According to the press secretary, Trump is currently concentrating on the talks with North Korea, and he has no time to think about other issues at the moment. She was also asked if she believed that ABC should cancel the show, The New York Post reported that Huckabee Sanders said, "That's not what the president's looking at. We have a lot bigger thing going on in the country right now."
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The president used to take some time to talk about Barr in the past. In March, Trump personally called the actress to commend her for the high ratings of the "Roseann" reboot. He also talked about the show's success during a rally in Ohio the same month, telling the attendees that more than 18 million people tuned in to the show that originally aired in the network in 1988 to 1997.
The cancellation of the popular rebooted sitcom came after Barr posted a derogatory tweet Tuesday, May 29, where she attacked former President Barack Obama's White House adviser Valerie Jarrett and connected the latter to the Islamist organization called Muslim Brotherhood and the film "Planet of the Apes."
"Muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby=vj" Barr wrote in her now-deleted tweet. When netizens pointed out that her tweet sounded racist, the actress replied, "Muslims r NOT a race."
Barr seemed to realize her mistake, which prompted her to issue an apology where she said sorry to Jarrett and all American for making a bad joke regarding her looks and political beliefs.
Because of her tweet, ABC Entertainment President Channing issued a statement regarding the cancellation of Barr's show. "Roseanne's Twitter statement is abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values, and we have decided to cancel her show," the statement that was posted by CNN Money reads.
ICM Partners, the talent agency where Barr belongs to, also announced that they will drop her from their roster on Tuesday.
"What she wrote is antithetical to our core values, both as individuals and as an agency," the agency stated. "Consequently, we have notified her that we will not represent her. Effective immediately, Roseanne Barr is no longer a client," their statement added.
Despite the cancelation and the dropping of her talent agency, Barr told her fans not to feel sorry for her. She also posted her apology to her co-stars, the writers, and the staff of the show who lost their jobs because of her tweet.
Reps for Jarrett refused to comment about Barr's remarks, but Obama's senior adviser personally told MSNBC during the taping of "Everyday Racism in America" that the incident should serve as a teaching moment.
Before the show's cancellation, some of Barr's co-stars and producers also posted on Twitter to share their reactions about her statements.
Wanda Sykes, the show's consulting producer, said that she will no longer return to the sitcom because of Barr's post. Emma Kenney also said that she was about to quit the show too before finding out that it was canceled by ABC.
