ABC has confirmed that Roseanne is canceled following a racist Twitter tirade from star Roseanne Barr, which ABC president Channing Dungey described in a statement as “repugnant and inconsistent with our values.”
Roseanne’s revival has long been overshadowed by its star’s vocal political opinions. Barr is a Trump supporter who has embraced and amplified conspiracy theories on Twitter, and who has a history of comparing black women to apes. So when she went on Twitter on May 29 to amplify a few conspiracy theories and to say that Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett looked like “the muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby,” it was not exactly out of character for her.
But none of her previous behavior has had a hugely detrimental effect on the ratings success of the Roseanne revival, which was confirmed for a second season (the sitcom’s 11th season overall) within days of its debut. Now that second season has apparently fallen victim to its star’s politics.