Free Speech or Hate Speech: ‘Roseanne’ Cancelled Over Star’s Racist Tweet

What’s the story?

• ABC has cancelled the reboot of Roseanne after its star, Roseanne Barr, wrote in a since-deleted tweet: “muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby=vj." "vj" stood for Valerie Jarrett, an African American Obama White House aide.
• “Roseanne’s Twitter statement is abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values, and we have decided to cancel her show,” ABC Entertainment president Channing Dungey said in a statement.
• Bob Iger, the CEO of Disney (which owns ABC), added on Twitter:

• The move, however, led some to accuse of ABC of stifling free speech and of enforcing double-standards. One of those making this accusation? The president.

Double-standard?

Supporters of Barr said the comedian’s tweets are similar to those made by other TV personalities who kept their jobs:

Others tweeted about Jimmy Kimmel mocking the first lady’s Slovenian accent:

And why, some wondered, was Joy Behar allowed to keep her job on The View after mocking the Vice President and Christians?

While commenting on Pence’s religious views in February, Behar said: "It's one thing to talk to Jesus. It's another thing when Jesus talks to you. That's called mental illness."

Roseanne’s apology and blame

In another since-deleted tweet, Roseanne wrote:

“Not giving excuses for what I did(tweeted) but I've done weird stuff while on ambien -- cracked eggs on the wall at 2am etc."

This led Sanofi, the makers of Ambien, to tweet:

What do you think?

Should Roseanne have been cancelled? Was her tweet racist? Or is this a case, as Infowars’ Alex Jones tweeted, of political correctness run amok?

What do you think? Share your thoughts below. 

—Josh Herman

(Photo Credit: Creative Commons)