- Roseanne Barr went on a tweetstorm Tuesday night after ABC canceled the “Roseanne” reboot.
- Barr said Tuesday morning that she was leaving Twitter, but she continued to tweet and retweet throughout the night.
- The retweets included right-wing Twitter pages and pundits defending her after her racist remark.
ABC may have canceled its “Roseanne” reboot on Tuesday over one of Roseanne Barr’s tweets, but that didn’t stop Barr from tweeting throughout the night.
Barr earlier Tuesday sent out a tweet comparing Valerie Jarrett, who served as a senior adviser to President Barack Obama, to an ape: “muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby=vj.” Jarrett is a black woman born in Iran.
Barr tweeted an apology Tuesday morning: “I apologise 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.”
But by Wednesday morning, after Barr had said she was leaving Twitter and after ABC then pulled the plug on Barr’s show, her Twitter account was littered with retweets from fans, far-right Twitter pages, and conservative pundits defending her following the racist remark.
Barr at one point sent out a tweet seeming to ask her followers to back off: “Hey guys, don’t defend me, it’s sweet of you 2 try, but…losing my show is 0 compared 2 being labelled a racist over one tweet-that I regret even more.”
But both before and after that tweet, Barr also retweeted Twitter users who defended her:
https://twitter.com/lauramocek1/status/1001641174015365122?ref_src=twsrc^tfw
https://twitter.com/JackPosobiec/status/1001649005380751360?ref_src=twsrc^tfw
I look like a monkey. Why? My DNA is 96% similar to a monkey's. It makes scientific sense. But due to emotions, double standards & feelings science is cancelled this year. There are 5,000 genders & if you don't agree with me you're a racist xenophobe.
— An0maly (@LegendaryEnergy) May 30, 2018
https://twitter.com/JodiJodiBoBodi/status/1001612666513719296?ref_src=twsrc^tfw
https://twitter.com/ThomasWictor/status/1001659571641827328?ref_src=twsrc^tfw
https://twitter.com/texm98/status/1001531455397392390?ref_src=twsrc^tfw
She replied to the television and radio host David Pakman and called him a “bully” while defending her claim that Ambien caused her racist tweet.
no, i didnt i blamed myself. stop lying. Yes, I have had odd ambien experiences on tweeting late at night-like many other ppl do. I BLAME MYSELF OK? it's just an explanation not an excuse, Ok, bully?
— Roseanne Barr (@therealroseanne) May 30, 2018
She also referred to several people as “bigots” for calling her out.
I'm a Jew making fun of Hitler, bigot.
— Roseanne Barr (@therealroseanne) May 30, 2018
I'm a Jew, bigot
— Roseanne Barr (@therealroseanne) May 30, 2018
She responded to her costar Sara Gilbert’s tweet describing Barr’s tweet about Jarrett as “abhorrent.”
Wow! unreal.
— Roseanne Barr (@therealroseanne) May 30, 2018
But then she said she understood Gilbert’s position and was just “shocked.”
no, I understand her position and why she said what she said. i forgive her. It just shocked me a bit, but I indeed fucked up.
— Roseanne Barr (@therealroseanne) May 30, 2018
She also called out Wanda Sykes for quitting the show before ABC canceled it, and she called out her costar Michael Fishman, who she said threw her under the bus.
her tweet made ABC very nervous and they cancelled the show.
— Roseanne Barr (@therealroseanne) May 30, 2018
i created the platform for that inclusivity and you know https://t.co/hViHPX2ZUb. You throw me under the bus. nice!
— Roseanne Barr (@therealroseanne) May 30, 2018
Barr also tweeted a defence of President Donald Trump, saying she “feels bad” for him in response to a tweet that called Gilbert “ungrateful” and “disloyal.”
i feel bad for @POTUS-he goes thru this every single day.
— Roseanne Barr (@therealroseanne) May 30, 2018
Barr also retweeted a claim by Herman Cain on a Fox Business program that ABC was “looking for a reason to cancel” the show because the network’s executives “didn’t like the fact that her conservative defence of certain things was so popular.”
ABC executives have said the “Roseanne” revival was a direct result of Trump’s election and part of the network’s strategy to attract conservatives. And while ratings slightly decreased since the reboot’s premiere in March, it was still the most popular scripted show of the year.
. @THEHermanCain on ABC canceling #Roseanne: “I believe they were looking for a reason to cancel #Roseanne and here's why. Even though the show was a ratings success, forces within ABC didn't like the fact that her conservative defense of certain things was so popular." pic.twitter.com/WPe65CZjo2
— Trish Regan (@trish_regan) May 29, 2018
Barr also seemed to be deflecting attention from her own remarks with a series of retweets that called out other personalities.
Not repugnant according to @WaltDisneyCo pic.twitter.com/RSkSPRy19w
— Angus T. Kirk (@angusparvo) May 29, 2018
When Trevor Noah's anti-Semitic tweets came to light, @DonLemon_CNN collected a panel of comedians who reassured us that this is just what comedians do. Tonight Don fetes Roseanne's punishment as justice incarnate. What's with the double standard, @CNN?
— Spinoza's rose (@Spinozasrose) May 30, 2018
https://twitter.com/CeJayC/status/1001741018767638529?ref_src=twsrc^tfw
https://twitter.com/bapartofmylife/status/1001797885179125761?ref_src=twsrc^tfw
Barr got into other political issues during her tweetstorm as well, such as the controversy surrounding photos of locked-up immigrant children.
The former Obama staffer Jon Favreau accidentally attributed photos of the children to Trump’s administration, but the photos were actually from 2014. Favreau apologised on Twitter for the mistake.
That didn’t stop Barr from retweeting a Breitbart article on the topic.
Journalists blame Trump for photos of Obama's detention centers… https://t.co/nDNG5jTGAI
— NEWS MAKER (@NEWS_MAKER) May 28, 2018
And she took part in the NFL controversy by retweeting the conservative commentator Ben Shapiro.
Interesting to see the crossover between people who thought the NFL banning kneeling for the anthem was a First Amendment debacle, but think ABC didn't raise any First Amendment issues by firing Roseanne. (/1)
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) May 29, 2018
She also retweeted numerous tweets about the Palestinian bombing of Israel on Tuesday.
Palestine/Hamas launched 27 rockets in Israel today. One of those rockets hit an Israeli Kindergarten.
Palestine. Does. Not. Want. Peace.
The silence of the UN is sickening.
— Daniel Turner (@DanielTurnerPTF) May 29, 2018
#Danon: The #UNSC must recognize #Hamas as a #Terrorist organization | @Jerusalem_Posthttps://t.co/OIGm74x8Ci@UN #Palestinians #Muslims #Jihad #Violence #Terror #Barbarism
— Golan Shahar ???????? (@GolanSh) May 30, 2018
Thousands of Israelis under fire from Gazan rockets and mortars; Israeli air strikes in response. The amount of coverage in @thetimes? NOTHING. Not one report. Isn't this newsworthy?!
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) May 30, 2018
To cap it off, she retweeted Charlie Sheen, who joked that “Two and a Half Men” should make a comeback.
adios
Roseanne!good
riddance.hashtag
NOT Winning.the
runway is
now clear
for
OUR reboot.©#CharlieHarperReturns pic.twitter.com/HcqMvIoxCM
— Charlie Sheen (@charliesheen) May 29, 2018
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