The fallout from Roseanne Barr’s racist tweet about Obama administration appointee Valerie Jarrett continues, now with Hulu joining all Viacom-owned networks and ABC in pulling Roseanne from their services. The revival of Roseanne was canceled by ABC on Tuesday following a tweet that referred to Jarrett in a derogatory fashion, only the latest controversial tweet from the sitcom star but the first to elicit a response from ABC. The network has already removed the show from its Tuesday lineup, opting to show a repeat of The Middle in its place.
Hulu, co-owned by ABC parent company Disney, released a statement to The Hollywood Reporter confirming the removal:
“We support ABC’s decision and are removing the show from Hulu.”
Amazon currently holds the SVOD right to the first nine seasons of the show and have not commented on Tuesday’s events yet.
Surprised that #Roseanne’s first nine seasons are still streaming on Amazon. No comment from them all day about if they’re dropping the show, too.
— Lesley Goldberg (@Snoodit) May 30, 2018
Plenty have spoken out about Barr’s comments and the decision to cancel the show, including longtime Roseanne executive producer Tom Werner according to Deadline:
“I support ABC’s decision to cancel the show in the wake of Roseanne Barr’s most recent reprehensible tweets,” he said. “Our goal was to promote constructive discussion about the issues that divide us. It represented the work of hundreds of talented people. I hope the good work done is not totally eclipsed by these abhorrent and offensive comments, and that Roseanne seeks the help she so clearly needs.”
Valerie Jarrett has also responded to the comments made by Barr in an interview with MSNBC, choosing to take the higher road and hoping that it is a “teaching moment” about racism according to Page Six:
“I’m fine, I’m worried about all the people out there who don’t have a circle of friends and followers coming to their defense,” she told MSNBC.
“The person who’s walking down the street minding their own business and they see somebody cling to their purse or want to cross the street. Or walk across the street. Or every black parent I know who has a boy who has to sit down and have a conversation — the talk, as we call it.”
The Hill is also reporting that this is not the first time Roseanne has used racially-charged language to refer to a member of the Obama administration. The site reports that Barr used similar language when referring to former National Security Advisor and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice, something that Rice retweeted from another user during today’s events.
You can watch Jarrett’s full comments below.
(Via Deadline / Vulture / The Hollywood Reporter / Page Six / The Hill)
