Roseanne Blames Ambien For Racist Tweet — Lashes Out At Critics On Twitter
Image by Getty Images
Roseanne Barr said she was tired of “being attacked and belittled” and blamed sleep aid Ambien for her tweet that compared a black former Obama administration official to an ape, a racist remark that sparked a wave of outrage.
Barr said in a series of Tweets on Tuesday and early on Wednesday that what she did was “unforgiveable” when she posted on Twitter that if the Islamist political movement “muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby = vj,” referring to Valerie Jarrett, a former aide to President Barack Obama.
“It was 2 in the morning and I was Ambien tweeting-it was memorial day too-i went 2 far & do not want it defended-it was egregious Indefensible,” she wrote. “I made a mistake I wish I hadn’t but…don’t defend it please.”
After vowing to “leave Twitter,” she also retweeted a string of far right-wing conspiracy theorists on diverse subjects such as George Soros, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and President Trump.
In other Tweets, Barr said that she was tired of “being attacked and belittled more than other comedians who have said worse” and asked for people not to boycott ABC, saying that the network has the right to “do what they wish.”
Walt Disney Co’s ABC network on Tuesday canceled her popular U.S. television comedy “Roseanne” after her tweet.
Barr, 65, then apologized “for making a bad joke” about Jarrett, who is black and was born in Iran to American parents.
“Don’t feel sorry for me, guys!!,” Barr said in a Tweet late on Tuesday. “I just want to apologize to the hundreds of people, and wonderful writers (all liberal) and talented actors who lost their jobs on my show due to my stupid tweet.”
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
