‘Roseanne Who?’ Valerie Jarrett Is Just Fine, Thanks For Asking

Valerie Jarrett and some lady Image by GETTY IMAGES/FORWARD MONTAGE

By Jenny Singer July 26, 2018

Valerie Jarrett sprang back into the public eye in May, when Roseanne Barr tweeted a deeply racist personal attack on her, resulting in her show “Roseanne” being cancelled.

But before that, Jarrett, the former advisor to President Obama, was trilingual, a senior law professor, a board member of an investment group, and an ongoing advisor to the Obama foundation. And now, she’s still all of those things.

“Roseanne who?” she laughed, asked about the incident Wednesday on The View. “Look, in all seriousness, as I said before, I’m fine. I am just fine.” Barr, who originally apologized (oddly,) has since released a second statement which is both more defensive and offensive.

“Now, if one of you said something like that about me, it might hurt my feelings, but this isn’t what keeps me up at night,” Jarrett chuckled to the hosts of The View. “What keeps me up at night are those families being separated on the border…or our children who go to school worrying about whether they’re going to be safe.” She gravely added, “These are the things that keep me up at night, not a racist tweet. Racist tweets and profane videos — not so much.”

Barr is set to give her first TV interview since the tweet, and her subsequent firing, on Thursday on Fox News’ Hannity, but Jarrett won’t be watching. “There are so many issues that are more important. I won’t be watching, and I hope you all won’t be watching either.”

Jenny Singer is the deputy lifestyle editor for the Forward. You can reach her at [email protected] or on Twitter @jeanvaljenny

Jenny Singer is a freelance writer with pieces in Vox, the Washington Post, The San Francisco Chronicle, Teen Vogue, and more. She was previously a staff writer at Glamour and the Forward, and she’s currently getting an MFA in nonfiction writing at the University of Iowa.