Comedian and writer Wanda Sykes has quit her job as a consulting producer on the show “Roseanne” after star Roseanne Barr went on a racist Twitter rant on Tuesday morning and then apologized.
Barr initially tweeted: “Muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby=vj.” The tweet was aimed at Valerie Jarrett, a top former aide to then-President Barack Obama, and has since been deleted.
Not long afterward, Barr posted an apology: “I apologize to Valerie Jarrett and to all Americans. I am truly sorry for making a bad joke about her politics and her looks. I should have known better. Forgive me - my joke was in bad taste.”
But the apology didn’t negate the first tweet and Twitter users had a lot of criticism to throw at both Barr and ABC. Many demanded that the network release a statement and/or take “Roseanne” off the air.
Early Tuesday afternoon, ABC announced that it had decided to cancel the show and the reactions continued to pour in:
“Roseanne” co-star Sara Gilbert also tweeted a statement about the show on Tuesday afternoon, prior to the cancellation announcement: “Roseanne’s recent comments about Valerie Jarrett, and so much more, are abhorrent and do not reflect the beliefs of our cast and crew or anyone associated with our show. I am disappointed in her actions to say the least.”
A second tweet from Gilbert said that Barr’s views were just the “opinions and words of one cast member.”
The story has been updated with comment from Sara Gilbert and ABC’s decision.