On May 29th, controversial comedian
Roseanne Barr was terminated by ABC and her revised, updated sitcom
was cancelled. Unless you were comatose all last week, you
undoubtedly heard the despicable comments she tweeted: “Muslim
brotherhood & Planet of the Apes had a baby” referring to
Valerie Jarrett, the Black former senior adviser to President Barack
Obama.
As one can imagine, social media
reaction was fast, swift and furious. ABC wasted no time in
delivering its decision to terminate Barr. Channing Dungey, president
of ABC News Entertainment division, and the first Black woman to hold
the position, was swift in her condemnation. “Roseanne’s
Twitter statement is abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our
values, and we have decided to cancel her show,” Dungey said.
She was routinely applauded for taking such decisive action and won
the support of Robert Iger, the CEO of Disney, as well as other
public figures.
It should be noted that this was not
the first time Barr has ventured into crude, callous territory as it
relates to race. In 2013, she referred to Susan Rice, national
security adviser in the Obama administration, as a “man with
big swinging ape balls.” Roseanne engaged in the most racially
primitive language possible. Comparing Black people to apes, monkeys,
animals and other non-human or less-than-human species is classic,
primitive racist rhetoric straight out of the pages of regressive,
old-fashioned, eugenic-minded, racial stereotypes.
Initially, rather than take
responsibility for her own despicable comments, Barr blamed anything
and everyone else. Comedian Wanda Sykes who served as a consultant
for the program and promptly quit after Barr posted her retrograde
bigoted comments yet was a target of her ire. Co-star Sara Gilbert
was to blame. The sleeping aid Ambien had something to do it.
Executives at ABC whom she blasted for caving in to “political
correctness.” And of course, her “liberal” critics
who were supposedly out to get her from the outset. For the record,
the Ambien defense promoted the drug maker to issue a public
statement with a deft level of wicked wit stating that “racism
is not a known side effect.” Hello! Drop the mic! Touchdown!
As a 65-year-old White woman, Barr
should have known better. If we are being honest with ourselves, the
truth is, she probably did. Truth be told, she probably assumed that
she had been granted so many passes for previous brash and obnoxious
behavior (including
her notorious bizarre national anthem performance at the 1990 San
Diego Padres game)
almost three decades ago that she would be able to get away with her
latest insult, which was a blatant racial affront to millions of
people of African descent throughout the world. And get this, as if
that was not insulting enough, with a straight face, she had the gall
to say that she thought Valarie Jarrett was White! Really Roseanne?
Do you think we are that stupid!? Girl! Please! Bye!
In her delusional mindset, she
likely assumed that any controversy would quickly subside and
everything would return to business as usual. Hell, after all,
President Trump was a fan of both her and the show. She had an
intense, dedicated fan base. She has made numerous cryptic comments
in the past and suffered no severe backlash, why would she do so now?
Well, it seems that karma finally caught up with the acid-tongued
comedian.
As many pundits, consultants and
fellow comedians from all walks of life and across the political
spectrum argued, ABC knew what they were getting when they entered
into a partnership with Barr. It was not as if they were blindsided
by a new up-and-coming novice who suddenly threw them a curve ball.
Roseanne Barr is a veteran Hollywood celebrity who is known for her
crass, crude, acerbic, frequently volatile disposition. She is brash,
routinely belligerent, foul mouthed and embodies a take-no-prisoner
persona. She does not hesitate to engage in vicious battles with
everyone and anyone on social media. Hurling intense insults and
being rude is her stock and trade. She’s a loose cannon. Ms.
Manners, she is not.
ABC saw Rosanne Barr as a potential
cash cow, and rightly so. Ratings for her new series were
record-breaking. Indeed, Barr garnered the type of ratings that are a
dream for advertisers and network executives. People were probably
hugging one another in the halls and popping champagne bottles at ABC
the day after the ratings were announced. Hell, even President Trump
weighed in on the issue, congratulating her for her impressive return
to television. That being said, fortunately, even ABC would not allow
its integrity and moral compass to be compromised for a few more
dollar bills - in this case, millions of dollar bills.
Although there has been talk of reviving the series without Barr.
Some have weighed in on the fact
that Black women were involved in all aspects of this dramatic
spectacle. Dungey, Jarrett and Rice all are Black women. Strong,
intelligent, professional, successful, powerful Black women. Each has
a level of visibility and social status that cannot be ignored or
minimized, even by those who would rather obscure their
accomplishments. This fact in and of itself is both noteworthy and
admirable.
To be sure, there are some on the
conservative and cultural right, among them Ted Nugent and conspiracy
theorist Alex Jones, millions of right wing bloggers and others, who
have engaging in mental gymnastics, whataboutisms and other baseless
defenses, decrying what they see as “double standards,”
political correctness and other predictable language that usually
emanates from right-wing circles when they perceive themselves as
being under attack from outside forces. Mind you this is the same Ted
Nugent who referred to Hillary Clinton as a c*nt (as did many other
of his right wing co-horts), unabashedly attacked President Obama and
former first lady Michelle Obama and their daughters, leveling the
most shameless sort of scurrilous comments and accusations. The
hypocrisy from a large segment of the right is shameless and
perversely disgraceful.
Paranoia and disingenuous
self-righteousness aside, the truth is that with her recent attacks
on Jarrett and previous attack on another Black woman, Roseanne
engaged in the most heinous act of racial inflammatory rhetoric
possible. Her comments were an insult to Jarrett, Rice, Black people
and decent human beings in general. Thank
goodness ABC had the integrity to make the right decision.
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