Roseanne Barr has succeeded against all odds. Wowing an American populace who once doubted her, she has confirmed her ability to be wildly racist and Islamophobic in a single tweet. In a comment on Twitter which has since been deleted, the actress described former Obama aide Valerie Jarrett, saying, “muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby=vj.” The re-boot of her show “Roseanne” was canceled by ABC just hours later.
Jarrett is likely receiving a nonsensical accusation of religious terrorism because she was born in Iran. Barr’s comparison of Jarrett’s appearance to an ape, which she called “a joke,” has tremendous historic weight as a racial epithet. Since the show’s cancellation, the actress has also been dropped by her talent agency, ICM, and both groups have put out statements condemning the star’s words. “Roseanne” was a hit. But not enough of a hit to make up for calling a prominent black woman a monkey-terrorist.
When did the Barr get so low?
Roseanne cancelled? Did Nazi this coming. pic.twitter.com/V3BuKUYQuO— Zack Bornstein (@ZackBornstein) May 29, 2018
(Roseanne pictured in a photoshoot in 2009.)
The reboot of “Roseanne” drew in major ratings and had been renewed for a second season before being canceled by ABC just hours after the erratic actress’ tweet. But Barr has been an enthusiastic and public racist for a while now. Just hours before her Jarrett tweet, Barr accused George Soros of selling fellow-Jews to the Nazis.
Jenny Singer is a writer for the Forward. Reach her singer@forward.com