May 29, 2018

"ABC cancels ‘Roseanne’ after its star, Roseanne Barr, went on a vitriolic and racist Twitter rant."

WaPo reports.
Barr appeared to take aim late Monday at Valerie Jarrett, a former adviser to President Obama, in a tweet that identified the administration official by her initials: “muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby=vj."...

The social-media rant wasn’t exactly a surprise performance by Barr, who regularly delights supporters of President Trump with her retweets of conservative memes and stories..... But even by her own standards, this latest round of tweets were particularly vitriolic. She started by spreading the false rumor that Chelsea Clinton is married to the nephew of billionaire liberal Democratic donor George Soros, who is a lightning rod for false conservative theories....

Barr later corrected herself, but added another insult. “CORRECTION: CHELSEA CLINTON IS NOT MARRIED TO A SOROS NEPHEW. HER HUSBAND IS THE SON OF A CORRUPT SENATOR, SO SORRY!” the comedian tweeted. (Fact check: Clinton’s father-in-law was convicted of financial fraud, but he was a member of the House, not the Senate.)...
A lot of people work on a show like that. It's sad that everyone can be sent packing when one nutty actor mouths off. Wasn't it the most popular sitcom on TV? Will it move to some other channel?

I feel sorry for Sara Gilbert:
Gilbert, who played Darlene on "Roseanne" and had been largely credited with spearheading the relaunch of the sitcom, tweeted that Barr's statements "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," Gilbert continued. "This is incredibly sad and difficult for all of us, as we’ve created a show that we believe in, are proud of, and that audiences love -- one that is separate and apart from the opinions and words of one cast member."
I'll say what Gilbert is not saying: She just got her good work and her rising career shot to hell.

ADDED: "Darlene Is the Best Reason to Watch the New Rosanne."

277 comments:

1 – 200 of 277   Newer›   Newest»
NotWhoIUsedtoBe said...

A whole show depending on Roseanne Barr not saying anything inappropriate in public.

In retrospect, they were doomed.

Earnest Prole said...

Pro tip: If you want to keep your primetime network television show, don’t use the N-word or joke about blacks breeding with apes. I believe those were the rules even before political correctness.

Ken B said...

Stupidity. By Barr, by ABC, by everyone who cheers the cancellation. One suspects the powers at ABC wanted to cancel, for peer opinion reasons, but dared not until this.

Will we hear about the hoorrors of the 50s blacklist?

Gahrie said...

Somebody else will pick it up. Profit is Profit.

Michael K said...

Roseanne has been a nut for years,

I warned you all about Disney when the news broke.

It's down 7% on the year.,

Disney HQ likely wasn’t the happiest place on Earth on Tuesday, as shares of the entertainment giant closed at $99.72, down 2.4 percent after a double-whammy of bad news.

The decline followed a tough weekend at the box office for Disney as the film studio’s latest Lucasfilm project, “Solo: A Star Wars Story,” underperformed, bringing in just $103 million in box office receipts for the 4-day Memorial Day weekend.

Disney had expected the film to open with $130 million. The disappointing returns of “Solo: A Star Wars Story” has raised concerns for Lucasfilm and its “Star Wars” universe.


Tsk Tsk Couldn't happen to a nicer bunch.

whitney said...

I can't imagine that she didn't realize there were going to be far-reaching repercussions from those tweets. They were pretty shocking. Maybe she was just going out with a bang. Perhaps she was sick of the show

Tank said...

Unless picked up by another network, remarkably stupid. Accomplished nothing, made no pertinent point, and probably lost Roseanne $100M, not to mention all the other actors and support staff losing a gig at a hit show.

Big Mike said...

Thoughtless. Not that you will find many -- or any? -- in Hollywood who think about the impact of what they say and do on other people.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

"Blogger John Lynch said...
A whole show depending on Roseanne Barr not saying anything inappropriate in public.

In retrospect, they were doomed."

Yeah, not saying this wasn't egregious, but the whole New Soviet Man thing is doomed to failure. It is fun to watch the Left snatch the moralist reins from the Right, though. I imagine they'll have even less success with it as conservatives are, by definition, more stubborn and bloody-minded.

Mark said...

It's only a matter of time before #MeToo Disney is #MeToo'd with all those pre-pubescent girls they treated like/turned into sex objects.

Chuck said...

What a perfectly Trumpian way to blow things up: on Twitter, with a bunch of ramblings from the fever swamps of the alt-right. I saw about 20 minutes of one episode of the show. (Where the granddaughter(?) was washing clothes that had been shoplifted or something, and were to be sold online. Roseanne was hacked because her own clothes had been set aside wet from the machine.) I won't miss it, and such a Trumpian end to it all does make me happy.

I should not that I saw the media-related story on this re: MSNBC's Joy Reid. Today, the dimwits at MSNBC had the gall to ask Joy Reid for commentary on Roseanne Barr. Just weeks after Joy Reid's own bungled responses to perfectly credible reports that homophobic and anti-Islamic postings had appeared on her own social media accounts in years prior to her achieving MSNBC stardom, and Reid had spluttered about how she didn't recognize the posts. (The posts were found and confirmed via the Wayback Machine.)

A gutpunch day for both Roseanne Barr and Joy Reid is what I call a Perfecta. To the extent that it is also a gutpunch for Trumpism, it's a Trifecta.

Michael Fitzgerald said...

There are consequences for taking the piss out of the wrong people. Valerie Jarrett is not Sarah Palin or Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Roseanne Barr is not Joy Behar or Joy Reid.

Luke Lea said...

What's wrong with a time out? Why does it have to be firing and discontinuance of whole show? Just an excuse for what top brass wanted to do anyway? Corporate globalism uber alles? Anything to get Trump and anyone associated with him?

bagoh20 said...

" Barr's statements "do not reflect the beliefs of our cast and crew or anyone associated with our show."

Of course not. How many attempts at comedy successful or not actually do represent even the comedians beliefs? Do late night hosts really believe what they say about Trump when they make jokes?, Do SNL performers and writers really believe what they say about Clinton, or anybody else they joke about. It's not what jokes are for. Think of some similar insulting lines about famous people spoken all the time. It's not generally a form of expressing strongly held beliefs. It's trying to be cute or funny, whether successful or not. Especially when it's at the expense of people you want to critique. Do all Lefties really believe that every Republican is a NAZI just becuase they say it about everyone of them that achieves power?

Chanie said...

Surely ABC will make a move to continue the show without her

Michael Fitzgerald said...

Who joked about blacks breeding with apes, Earnest Prole?

Ray - SoCal said...

Current US Society Rules / Overton Window

You can’t joke/ insult a Black in a racist manner.

Exceptions:

1. You are a Democrat - see Joe Biden
2. You are Black and have the correct ideology.
3. Or joking about a Republican. They are considered not a true Black - such as Judge Clarence Thomas.

Everything else can be papered over via an apology.

And if you are ABC / Disney looking for a reason to dump Roseanne to virtue signal your anti Trump, you just got one.


Mark said...

Roseanne has been a nut for years

The kind of nut who you want to think twice about crossing because now she just might become Chuck-level nut with a never-ending obsessive barrage aimed at ABC, Disney, et al.

Chuck said...

whitney said...
I can't imagine that she didn't realize there were going to be far-reaching repercussions from those tweets. They were pretty shocking. Maybe she was just going out with a bang. Perhaps she was sick of the show


I didn't spend any considerable time researching it, but I had been thinking that the Roseanne Tweets were authored late in the evening on Memorial Day. I presumed that it was just the end of a mean-drunk day for Roseanne.

And maybe, Don Trump Jr., who retweeted some of the offending Roseanne Tweets. If you combined the IQ's of Roseanne, Donald Trump, Don Jr. and an Australian Shepherd, could you get a functional single human intelligence?

James K said...

So the WaPo deems the Tweet "racist" as though that is an objective fact, not a matter of opinion. Bush can be depicted as a chimp, Trump a "cock holster," Barron as autistic, but say anything about anyone in the Obama administration and you're out on the street.

Drago said...

LLR Chuck: "Today, the dimwits at MSNBC had the gall to ask Joy Reid for commentary on Roseanne Barr."

LOL

Chucky perfunctorily goes after MSNBC....(wink wink)....

Michael K said...

To the extent that it is also a gutpunch for Trumpism, it's a Trifecta.

chuck, is your last name Chadwick by any chance ?

ValJar was holding a press conference with all the race card holders present including Sharpton. I wonder if she pays him ?

Hers was the whitest face there, By far. Lots of Aryan in that lady.

Drago said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Drago said...

LLR Chuck "Chadwick" is in meltdown mode over the latest decreasing dem generic vote numbers.

Perfectly understandable and we should give him a bit of room. It's gotta be tough...

bagoh20 said...

At least Barr didn't say Jarrett was "clean and articulate" which was a serious statement that actually did express a bit of racial stereotyping. If she had, she could have been forgiven all the way to high office.

chickelit said...

I’m just glad someone took ValJar to task. She foisted the disastrous Iran deal upon the hapless Obama. What she did wasn’t simian but it wasn’t human either.

bagoh20 said...

This will get more Trump votes. Almost everything his enemies do helps him.

Drago said...

I mean, if there was ever any one poster on Althouse Blog qualified to call another poster a racist based on a tweet or blog posting, our very own LLR Chuck "Chadwick" certainly qualifies.

After all, Chuckie gave us the unforgettable "Department of Black People" when discussing Doctor Ben Carson.

LOL

chickelit said...

We do need a national discussion about ValJar; But I expect her to be the most protected name among the criminal spies in the Obama gang.

CJ said...

Everybody’s going to offend the censors at some point. You think you’re safe if you don’t make a joke that’s historically been considered racist?

Never liked Rosanne and never watched the show, but Valerie Jarrett does look like a bad costume from the 70s. And she’s evil as all get out to boot.

Drago said...

Meanwhile, ABC rehires Keith Olbermann.

And I don't care in the slightest if my going after Olbermann upsets LLR Chuck greatly.

Just as I don't care if my attacking Dick Durbin gives LLR Chuck the vapors.

walter said...

"took ValJar to task"
By giving her a chance to assume the high ground in the news cycle?
Thanks Rosanne!

Eleanor said...

I saw a comment, "ABC just handed the Republicans the midterms". I think he's right.

Drago said...

Eleanor: "I saw a comment, "ABC just handed the Republicans the midterms". I think he's right"

I would caution you not to write things like that until after LLR Chuck "Chadwick" ceases posting. A sentiment such as that is likely to send him back to the bottle (possibly) and back into "attack the kids" mode.

chickelit said...

Change asserted: “Surely ABC will make a move to continue the show without her.”

Why? ABC is a polarized, political network. They hated having that show. They want to be able to tell you what to watch. It’s time to get leery about ABC: Turn it off and tune it out.

eddie willers said...

I was listening to Rush when the news broke. As usual, he cuts to the quick:

"She was practicing for The Correspondents Dinner".

chickelit said...

Blogger Michael Fitzgerald said...”There are consequences for taking the piss out of the wrong people. Valerie Jarrett is not Sarah Palin or Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Roseanne Barr is not Joy Behar or Joy Reid.”

Why is Valeria Jarrett so special? Is it because she’s still Obama’s Karl Rove? Maybe she needs to go on network TV and make a couple wrong predictions. Instead she hides behind Obama.

Bay Area Guy said...

A few observations:

1. I didn't watch Roseanne 20 years ago, I didn't watch its reboot this year. I don't consider Roseanne a member of my loosely affiliated "team," and I don't really care whether her show thrives or is cancelled. No horse in the race.

2. In general, my "team" and the opposing "team" pretty regularly mutually insult each other. Example: They regularly call Trump a Nazi or Fascist, I regularly call them Leftwing morons.

3. There are standards though: For example, I prefer policy attacks, not personal attacks.

4. Also, in the real world, we all understand that racial attacks, particularly against black folks, are toxic, and Roseanne's comparing Valerie Jarrett to an ape is, well, pretty toxic.

5. What is the standard? One racial tweet and millions of dollars and jobs go down the drain? If Roseanne had called Jarrett, a "stupid, Commie bitch," that woulda been within acceptable broad guidelines and the show would go on?

6. Jesse Jackson once called New York City, "Hymietown" a slur against Jews. Gave him a little bad PR, but no firings. Radio jockey Don Imus called black female basketball players "Nappy-Headed Hos" -- and basically had his career sunk.

6. Roseanne apologized -- does that mitigate the offense?

7. Has Valerie Jarrett spoken out or is the amorphous PC police prosecuting this offense?

The Left is really good at setting trip wires and landmines for their enemies to step on. Roseanne's comment is offensive (and it's hard to offend me), but I'm not so sure the punishment fits the crime. Alas, I don't care enough about Roseanne or Jarrett to worry about it.

Drago said...

I personally thought it was a nice touch for LLR Chuck's beloved MSNBC to have Al Sharpton on as one of the commenters discussing this.

LOL

Vance said...

Poor Chuck.... his preferred candidates all lost to a guy who has less intelligence than an Australian Shepard. By Chuck's own admission!

How could people you support lose to a man dumber than a dog, Chuck? I mean, what does that say about your side? You can't even beat a man with less intelligence than a dog?

Even Hitler could put down a dog. Your people, your policies, your party cannot? Shame!

It must truly twist your soul to know that your politics would lose to a German shepard. Or even a poodle.

As for cancelling Roseanne over a tweet, while they let Morgan Freeman and various other leftists rape and run rampant.... what hypocrisy.

HT said...

So maddening! She just blew it for a lot of people. I love the show, new and old, but with the new show, there was something about the way Roseanne delivered her lines, without modulation, that was difficult to get past. Her voice was different than before. I noticed this on others too, but her particularly. With time it might have improved, now we'll never know.

lgv said...

Well, I thought the original show sucked. I watched one episode of the new show. I thought it sucked. Back when she was Bush hater, I thought her comments lacked any semblance of intelligence. She has now proven it. At least she can fall back on her singing career.

Let's move on. No great loss.

chickelit said...

“Hers was the whitest face there, By far. Lots of Aryan in that lady.”

Aryan and Iran are cognates separated at birth.

Lewis Wetzel said...

She started by spreading the false rumor that Chelsea Clinton is married to the nephew of billionaire liberal Democratic donor George Soros, who is a lightning rod for false conservative theories.
The last clause introduces editorializing into what is supposed to be a straight news story. This is an example of why the WaPo editors and writers should be considered propagandists rather than journalists. If they consider themselves to be objective journalists they are wrong, they do not even understand the rules of their own profession.

rcocean said...

Not too sure why a popular show had to be cancelled because of one bad tweet.

Except ABC Liberal Execs wanted to cancel the show anyway.

Hopefully, it will be picked up by another network.

Also, brings up the rule: Never apologize to SJW's. It does NO good. They NEVER accept it.

rcocean said...

Maybe ABC can replace Rosanne with Kathy Griffith.

rcocean said...

Or Rosie.

Anthony said...

That's too bad because there are just sooooooo many ways to insult both of them.

Earnest Prole said...

Who joked about blacks breeding with apes, Earnest Prole?

You’re right, Michael Fitzgerald, Roseanne's joke was specifically about sand monkeys breeding with apes to produce a black woman, so I stand corrected.

rcocean said...

Does anyone else get annoyed at the MSM calling a short three-sentence tweet " A rant"?

They do this with Trump too. He's tweeted out one sentence and the WaPo has labeled it a "Rant".

rcocean said...

As Maxwell Smart have said:

"Couldn't you have just shushed her?"

Bay Area Guy said...

Firing Roseanne arguably makes sense. Cancelling the show? A bit heavy-handed. Although, the show was called, "Roseanne", so maybe there was no creative way for the show to go on without her.

On substantive grounds, I really didn't like Valerie Jarrett. She was a hard-core Leftist.

Fabi said...

"Department of Black People" Chuck chimes in about someone else's racism? Lulz

Browndog said...

Just so I have this straight:

A comedian made a joke. It offended many. The comedian apologized. The comedian's hit tv series was cancelled within hours.

Glad to see so many are quick to adapt the ever changing "new rules" set by the left.

n.n said...

So, don't repent, and don't forgive. A rule of thumb for people who deny individual dignity (i.e. diversitists or color judgments), deny equal rights (i.e. politically congruent or "=", female chauvinists), deny intrinsic and evolution of human life (i.e. Pro-Choicers, twilighters), and who routinely run amuck in social justice adventures (i.e. elective wars, catastrophic anthropogenic immigration reform).

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Well, so much for the old "We Trump voters/supporters just want respect - we're decent people and not ALL of us are racists!" shit.

Good while it lasted. I suppose none of these Trumpstertarians can hold out for long. After all, it was his poor impulse control that turned his crowd on to him in the first place. Scratch one of them and you find something despicable inside, it seems. Desperation is a legitimate thing in today's political climate, but it should be for the right reasons - economic deprivation and inequity or police brutality. Not, "Gee why can't I refer to black Americans as 'apes'? That's so unfair." Yeah, I'm sure that desperate sentiment's been waiting to gain legitimacy for a while, also. Guess you'll have to keep waiting to find it legitimated... maybe a couple hundred years or so. Or a few more eons of evolution until your kind finally goes extinct.

Atonishing.

Birches said...

I didn't know Jarett was black. Learned something new today.

walter said...

Some "rules" ain't so new.

Left Bank of the Charles said...

Darlene was also the best reason to watch the old Rosanne.

walter said...

Result as predictable as PPPT's broad brush O' shit.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Jesse Jackson once called New York City, "Hymietown" a slur against Jews. Gave him a little bad PR, but no firings.

Who employed him?

n.n said...

Simian derivative (i.e. evolutionary model or hypothesis) is politically congruous ("=") and their inconvenient truth.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Feeling frustrated at not being able to contribute as usual to the discussion here, walter...? Or to the broader national discourse?

That must suck. I know what frustration feels like but not for the reason you feel it.

walter said...

..as predictable as his wipe down of brush O' shit when convenient.

Browndog said...

walter said...

Some "rules" ain't so new.


Please. Do go on...

Michael K said...

ABC is a polarized, political network. They hated having that show. They want to be able to tell you what to watch. It’s time to get leery about ABC: Turn it off and tune it out.

We knew that when they hid "The Path to 9/11" for 20 years.

It cost Disney millions which should be in-kind contributions to Hillary.

n.n said...

conservatives are, by definition, more stubborn and bloody-minded

Conservation of principles, yes. Bloody-minded, not at all. Hundreds of millions tortured dead in progressive discontinuities. Hundreds of millions tortured, dead, and recycled under liberals' rites of selective and one-child.

readering said...

Memories of Charlie Sheen. Feeling bad for Sara Gilbert was my first reaction too. Even if today's rants were not enough in themselves to merit cancellation they were clear warning to avoid the sunk cost fallacy. More bad stuff was bound to follow.

n.n said...

Odd, diversity rants (i.e. color judgments and discrimination) are politically correct. In South Africa, uniquely, they are established as the highest law of the land and normalized institutional policies that paint individuals by the color of their skin and with broad sweeping strokes.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

..as predictable as his wipe down of brush O' shit when convenient.

Given the folks you look to for political, cultural and moral guidance I guess it wasn't clear to me how positive I was supposed to be to you in the aftermath of another one of your heroes' nasty implosions.

Right-wingers, we share your complaints about the political classes, just not your racism or narcissism. What are you going to do about it?

Unfortunately, there's nothing they can do. They just want to "win," no matter how emptily and no matter how. The only answer for times like these is a return to the left wing. Sorry, we warned you.

BuckIV said...

I had no idea Valerie Jarret was black

Browndog said...

I just find it odd. Roseann, like many, started out on the stand-up circuit. She's had a long career, and I can't recall any known antipathy towards blacks.

Planet of the Apes is not a movie about blacks ruling whites. People hear the word "ape" and go apeshit, automatically conditioned to associate it with blacks--as with monkeys--these days.

I don't know what she meant, neither does anyone else.

No one gave her the opportunity to explain herself.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

I had no idea Valerie Jarret was black.

I'll be charitable and suppose there's an outside chance that Fat Roseanne didn't, either.

But, two things:

1. Given her Trump's history she should have stayed FAR away (and a woman like Roseanne should be used to giving a wide berth) around anything related to Obama or primates.

2. Regardless of subject matter of insult, she should have just cooled the fuck down already and given the Twitter tirades a rest, regardless. Sooner or later, someone gets loose enough with one of those things and BLAM an unforgivable shit-nugget of putrid ostracism bait will plunk out. She'd had a habit of deleting posts in the past so perhaps she should have learned something that President Flaming Orange never feels he has to.

3. Can't these Twitter assholes just get some practice with real, less high-stakes back-and-forths on comments sections somewhere? As celebrities they seem to assume their public single comments are interesting or cool but they're not. They're just empty telegrams to the sky - in a forum where context is explicitly discouraged to the point of being completely stripped down. It's just asking for trouble. Unless you're a president who gets off on feeling naughty all the time. Baby Trump must have had his mouth washed out with soap often.

Earnest Prole said...

I don't know what she meant, neither does anyone else.

That moment when otherwise intelligent people are suddenly sans insight.

Bad Lieutenant said...

Valerie Jarret is black? I thought she was Iranian. Inhumanly ugly but the outside has nothing on the inside. She indeed does remind me of the old Planet of the Apes costumes, though. She just don't look right. Many of the Obamaites look defective or damaged actually.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

Too bad for Sara Gilbert and the others who now have lost their jobs. Too bad she didn’t think about her co-workers before shooting off her big fat mouth. What made her think she could get away with spouting such vile racist stuff? Emboldened by Trump? Or just a stupid bigot? Or both?

MPH said...

Incredible number of Althouse comments supporting Rosanne. Is nothing beyond the pale? Is partisanship that much of a rot on the brain?

Michael Fitzgerald said...

Democrats pounce.

rcocean said...

Is there anything duller than Peeps commenting on the comments?

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

A comedian made a joke. It offended many. The comedian apologized. The comedian's hit tv series was cancelled within hours.

Glad to see so many are quick to adapt the ever changing "new rules" set by the left.


The president of ABC is black.

If the president was a Jew and she or someone tweeted about Jewish physical characteristics how long would you expect him to wait before shutting her down?

Trick question - because you expect Jews (or just whites) to have a sort of self-respect that you deny of blacks or "others."

This doesn't even touch upon the whole business issue. You party of billionaires and chambers of commerce don't seem to understand that bigotry is bad for business. Very bad. Does it cross your mind how many black viewers/customers these businesses have or how many non-black customers are equally turned off by that? How horrible a sense of P.R. do you people have anyway?

rhhardin said...

Blacks should be offended by the taking of offense on their behalf, not the joke. Their protectors think they're as dumb as apes because of a facial resemblance. That's why they think you shouldn't remark on it.

That monkeys have hands should give us pause.

Another resemblance.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

And those "rules" you spoke of are Trump's anyway. He reacts within hours to perceived "slights" that are way less offensive.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

Valerie Jarret is a black American whose father, a physician worked for an American charitable organization and was sent to Iran with his family. They were there for five years. Jarret’s great grandfather was Jewish.

Earnest Prole said...

Thanks, Roseanne, for proving we can’t have nice things in Trump House.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“Incredible number of Althouse comments supporting Rosanne. Is nothing beyond the pale? Is partisanship that much of a rot on the brain?”

Yes. No surprise.

rhhardin said...

And those "rules" you spoke of are Trump's anyway. He reacts within hours to perceived "slights" that are way less offensive.

Trump is never offended. It's an insult game.

Its point is to derail the smooth functioning of the MSM takeover off the entire field.

People notice there's a conflict and don't believe the news, which is the correct response.

mockturtle said...

What racism? Sorry, I missed it. If memory serves, the apes in Planet of the Apes were white [at least in the one version I saw]. Do liberal whites think black people look like apes, and therefore the remark was about race?

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Do all Lefties really believe that every Republican is a NAZI just becuase they say it about everyone of them that achieves power?

Not all Republicans are Nazis (or their equivalent). As we now see, the vast remainder of them are just the "silent majority" types who would enable Nazis if it helped them politically. It was often asked how Hitler could be allowed to get away with what he did. His program wasn't really all that popular, you should note.

Well, the Trump-Republican Party relationship is providing the answer for that one in full view for an entire country. Cowards and bullies need each other.

Jon Burack said...

It's not "sad," Ann, It's disgraceful. I make no excuses for the tweet. But the swift totality of the response is terrifying. We are in the grip of mindless fury.

n.n said...

So, Barr returns to left field after a trial repositioning.

Alex said...

Sara Gilbert can suck a bag of dicks.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Trump is never offended.

Lol. Apparently someone failed a human psychology test.

And by human psychology test, I don't mean a test about human psychology in content.

I mean, a test of whether the person who said this has any human psychology.

Trump is perpetually offended. He's not "playing" at it. You're just choosing to reward him for it.

I guess Republicans must be really boring and uptight and repressed folks to find such profit in their leader's unhinged wig-stand.

Inga...Allie Oop said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Wig-stand. I like that one, if I do say so my self.

Trump. A walking, talking, human wig-stand.

John Pickering said...

This is classic Ann, missing the point:

It's sad that everyone can be sent packing when one nutty actor mouths off.

Ann, the show is called Roseanne. This actress plays herself, and her character as a Trumpist is why there is a show at all. You don't seem to understand the difference between the show's reason for existence and one nutty actor. She is THE nutty actor.
So to encourage or countenance her going on with her racist persona on TV is to acquiesce to the casual and overt racism that many people feel entitled to show, as sometimes seen in these comments.
I don't have an answer, but I know that many white men and women from the North today have ancestors that fought to end tyranny and free the slaves, and we have to somehow recover our better natures.

chickelit said...

Althouse added: “ADDED: "Darlene Is the Best Reason to Watch the New Rosanne."

I wonder if she caught the egregious use of “garner” at that link.

Lyle said...

Roseanne will be back just like Kathy Griffin.

Michael Fitzgerald said...

Earnest People @6:41 getting his sheet on! Progs just love to spew slurs and race hatred dressed in the guise of scolding the "real" racists. They're gonna put ya in chains y'all!

Browndog said...

Liberals know what she meant because "Trump".

She was fired, and deservedly so, because "Trump".

This whole thing, is about "Trump".

Not Roseanne, not racism, not anything. Trump.

It all comes back to Trump. The left will reveal themselves in the next 48 hours. As far as me being a 'Roseanne supporter"? I couldn't care less. I hear "everyone agrees that Roseanne should be fired." Initially, I do agree--then I think...for myself. Outside of your group.

Many, many people didn't even know Jarrett was black. Why? Roseanne referred to a movie, a dystopian movie.

Like I said, I don't know what she meant--but if it was to remind the public that Jarret is an ape-like black...I just find that hard to swallow without hearing from her--not what lefties think she meant.

dreams said...

If she had just made a bigoted joke about Christians like Joy Behar did then she would have been ok.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

I don't have an answer, but I know that many white men and women from the North today have ancestors that fought to end tyranny and free the slaves, and we have to somehow recover our better natures.

Hear, hear.

Unfortunately, the South has been using a de facto pocket veto over all our politics for a while now. It seemed to have exhausted its old pet projects after Reagan went on about "welfare queens" (i.e. annoying black single mothers on benefits), but Northern blue collar labor unfortunately had no other ally. They were abandoned by the left and were easy prey to the right. It's a disgrace, and primarily the left's fault.

When your country fails to lift up the working class on economic issues, then they will go racist and a demagogue will pick them up on race-ethnicity issues. There's just no two ways about it. How disgraceful that our entire political establishment doesn't get this and allowed it to happen. It's been shown time and time again.

Jupiter said...

"I don't know what she meant, neither does anyone else."

It's a puzzle. "Muslim Brotherhood and planet of the Apes had a baby=vj". I am wondering who decided that vj is Valerie Jarrett. It certainly wouldn't have occurred to me. Last time I checked, Muslim Brotherhood was Sunni, while Iran is Shia. I guess Barr may not know that. Frankly, I'm surprised she knows enough about Valerie Jarrett to hate her stinking guts. Most people don't.

n.n said...

Do liberal whites think black people look like apes

Yes, that's why evolutionary creationism, and the indeterminate missing links, are offensive to their senses. Simian derivatives are politically incorrect or congruent. Well, that, and because of their twilight faith that asserts humans are conceived and delivered by Stork at the age of convenience or profitability (i.e. no intrinsic value, but rather colorful clumps of cells, some black, some white, some brown, some male, some female, etc.). That said, there were human slaves in Planet of the Apes. The slavers, there as here, were presumably Muslims or tribal, brown and black.

Sally327 said...

Roseanne Barr used to be funny, back when she doing stand-up I mean, the whole domestic goddess routine. She wrote her own material and she knew what was funny. Now, unless other people are coming up with her lines, she's just weird and creepy and not funny.

Would the reaction have been the same if she'd tweeted Condi Rice's name instead of Valerie Jarrett?

Earnest Prole said...

getting his sheet on

C’mon Michael Fitzgerald, have the courage of your racial convictions.

roesch/voltaire said...

As Rosen Barr said post menopausal women should not touch the monkey.

dreams said...

"I don't have an answer, but I know that many white men and women from the North today have ancestors that fought to end tyranny and free the slaves, and we have to somehow recover our better natures."

Then I suggest you stop patting yourself on the back and start looking for your better self.

mockturtle said...

The guillotine is swift and merciless.

The Vault Dweller said...

I think Roseanne's comment was clearly inappropriate and way past the line. Evidently she thought so too, or was quickly convinced by someone with common sense because she apologized very shortly afterwards and deleted it. The alacrity with which ABC and hollywood acted to condemn this tweet is interestingly juxtaposed with decades it took for them to do something about Harvey Weinstein and others. And for what it is worth what Harvey and others did was leagues worse since it actually involved bad actions and not merely bad words. But I'm not trying to justify Roseanne's tweet, merely pointing out Hollywood isn't exactly a virtuous group of people.

I am puzzled at people who think cancelling the show is fighting Racism. When racism isn't a problem in America anymore, you won't be able to tell because comments like the one Roseanne made no longer exist. You will be able to tell because comments like Roseanne's won't really be a big deal. I doubt Roseanne meant it as an attack on all black folks, but probably as a personal attack on Valerie Jarret. I doubt Roseanne thinks of people as being like apes (yes, yes I know all humans are technically apes). When a comment like Roseanne's is more seen like a comment making fun of someone who is incandescently white for being super pasty or soemthing then we will know racism isn't really a problem anymore.

That being said, comparing Valerie Jarret to an Ape from Planet of the Apes doesn't seem accurate. There is something weird about her appearance but I don't think comparing to Planet of the Apes is it.

Michael Fitzgerald said...

They just like saying "cocksucker".

n.n said...

We are not better today. There was a brief moment of equality and stability, that has since been replaced with institutional diversity (e.g. racism), female chauvinism, political congruence (i.e. selective exclusion), and selective-child (life deemed unworthy). The welfare system has been a source of progressive debt and profit for its handlers. These were principal factors and cover-ups in destroying families, debasing human life, unaffordable medical care, inflation and recurring recessions, inflated asset prices (e.g. homes), cost-of-living progressions, etc.

tim in vermont said...

She made her point with the show.

I just cancelled Netflix because they gave Wolfe a show in which she said more disgusting stuff following up on her Correspondents Dinner hatefest. She has every right to say whatever she wants to, but. I couldn’t stomach helping to pay her salary. So I understand why ABC did this to Barr. It was pretty disappointing what she said, to say the least.

But the main reason I cancelled Netflix was that I have so many options of free and on demand movies that it seems extraneous.

dreams said...

"Incredible number of Althouse comments supporting Rosanne. Is nothing beyond the pale? Is partisanship that much of a rot on the brain?"

Enjoy your presumed superiority while you virtue signal, a twofer.

Browndog said...

. I am wondering who decided that vj is Valerie Jarrett.

I do too.

I'd also like to know when we can discuss the 'muslim brotherhood' part of the equation. No one wants to touch that one, too busy going apeshit over the 'ape' in a movie about apes and humans.

tim in vermont said...

Of course Valerie Jarret is a sensitive subject.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

I just cancelled Netflix because they gave Wolfe a show in which she said more disgusting stuff following up on her Correspondents Dinner hatefest.

Awww. You poor thing, you.

Narayanan said...

If she had begun her tweet "as a Jew etc." She could have gotten some slack
Amirite

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

I have a joke! Wanna year it?

Conservative humorist. Conservative comedy audience.

Get it?

HAHhahahahahah!

dreams said...

A lot of poo-poo from pee-pee, just another potty mouth liberal.

tim in vermont said...

Conservative humorist. Conservative comedy audience.

She had the audience so what you are saying doesn’t make any sense. Tim Allen had a popular show too when he was cancelled. But you keep going. I don’t really give a shit about Netflix either. Just don’t see any reason to send them money.

Trumpit said...

If I were Roseanne, I'd check into the Betty Ford Clinic and never check out.

tim in vermont said...

Hillary should join her there.

tim in vermont said...

She had the champaign open at 10 a.m. on election day.

Sebastian said...

"I'll say what Gilbert is not saying: She just got her good work and her rising career shot to hell."

It's a feature, not a bug, of prog outrage for people to lose their jobs over deviant doubleplusungood thoughtcrimes.

Anyway, as far as I can tell, no one is complaining about the Muslim Brotherhood side of the comment. You'd think, associating someone with murderous terrorism and all would be worse than a merely vile slur. But then, race trumps everything but politics.

dreams said...

"She had the champaign open at 10 a.m. on election day."

And she was too drunk to make the traditional congratulatory phone call to the winner, Trump.

Bruce Hayden said...

"Valerie Jarret is a black American whose father, a physician worked for an American charitable organization and was sent to Iran with his family. They were there for five years. Jarret’s great grandfather was Jewish."

Inga finally says something that I agree with - which is essentially that Jarrett is a majority black woman born to American ex pats, who were living in Iran at the time.

Another point - associating Persians with sand or camels is a grave insults to them. Friend calls the Iranians he has worked closely with for 30 years "camel jockeys" to punch their buttons. They will huff and puff, and respond that the camel jockeys are the filthy Arabs, and the Persians were living in cities for 4 thousand years while the Arabs were living in tents in the desert with their camels.

Also, notably, the Muslim Brotherhood (which the family of Croojed Hillary's protege, Huma Abedin, was close to) is a Sunni institution. Iran is, of course, predominately Shi'a, and the clergy mostly running it are Shi'a.

Not surprisingly though that Rossanne screwed up those distinctions. Jarrett was born in Iran, supported them, the Iranians are Muzzies, and so is the Muslim Brotherhood, etc.

Still, I always wondered why Sunni raised Obama ended up on the Shiite side of the Muslim religious divide with his Iranian deal (and $150B buy off). Given their closeness, I expect that she was the driving force there - growing up, she was apparently fluent in Farsi and French, along with English. Which probably means that she adopted the Persian disdain for Dirty Arabs from associating with a lot of Iranians. I spent far less time around Iranians than she probably has, and still my view of Arab culture, or really lack of it, has long been strongly colored by these Persian conceits.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“I'd also like to know when we can discuss the 'muslim brotherhood' part of the equation. No one wants to touch that one, too busy going apeshit over the 'ape' in a movie about apes and humans.”

So Valerie Jarrett whose great grandfather was Jewish is a member of the Muslim Brotherhood? There is a massive problem with you right wingers being sucked in by one conspiracy theory after another. It’s amazing that you people are so susceptible to disinformation and propaganda.

Michael K said...

There is a massive problem with you right wingers being sucked in by one conspiracy theory after another. It’s amazing that you people are so susceptible to disinformation and propaganda.

Yes, sing it Inga !

Meanwhile, your hero, supplied Iran with billions of dollars, much of it in cash.

Bruce Hayden said...

"It's a puzzle. "Muslim Brotherhood and planet of the Apes had a baby=vj". I am wondering who decided that vj is Valerie Jarrett. It certainly wouldn't have occurred to me. Last time I checked, Muslim Brotherhood was Sunni, while Iran is Shia. I guess Barr may not know that. Frankly, I'm surprised she knows enough about Valerie Jarrett to hate her stinking guts. Most people don't."

He reason that we knew that VJ was Jarrett, and the context was Obama and her. Jarrett has been close to the Obama since before they were married, and she got Michelle a job, and continues to the present with her living with the Obamas in Georgetown.

Drago said...


Monique Judge @thejournalista
Ben Carson is a monkey of the porch variety. https://twitter.com/TheRoot/status/923403848600948736 …
10:21 PM - Oct 25, 2017


Remember when white guy dem lefty syndicated cartoonist Ted Rall depicted Condoleeza Rice proclaiming herself Bush’s “house nigga"?

Good times, good times...

Michael K said...

Does anybody but Ritmo comment on these threads ?

later.

tim in vermont said...

Oh yeah, and I didn’t want to help fund the 50 million dollars to Obama that Netflix coughed up. Here is the comment from Netflix:

At an industry event Tuesday, Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos said the network's production deal with Barack and Michelle Obama, announced last week, does not represent an organizational shift to the left.

Sarandos said the Obamas will be producing "entertainment," not news, programming as part of the multiyear deal.

"It's not The Obama Network, it's not the MSNBC shift," he said at the Paley Center for Media in New York. “There's no political slate to the programming."


“Entertainment, not news” Lo fucking l. I am sure it won’t be news, it will be morality tales, one after the other.

tim in vermont said...

There is a massive problem with you right wingers being sucked in by one conspiracy theory after another.


Ha ha ha ha ha ha! Wow. And liberals say that conservatives have no sense of irony.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Personally, I don't think its too high a bar to expect that a high profile family-orientated entertainer would not compare African Americans to apes.

To do it when your boss is African American strikes me as self-destructive as well as gauche.

Particularly disappointing in this case because I, for whatever reason, find Sarah Chalke particularly hot.

AlbertAnonymous said...

MDH said

“Incredible number of Althouse comments supporting Rosanne...”

Where? I didn’t read a single one supporting her. At best a few were questioning whether the wholly inappropriate comments warranted the cancellation of the whole show and firing of all its cast/crew and staff.

And a couple questioned the immediate “racist” tag given to the reporting.

But support? C’mon man...

Leland said...

Double Standard

BUMBLE BEE said...

I can remember back. not too long ago V.J. was considered a slum lord in Chicago. Probably was the reason Barry ran "unopposed" for senator in Chicago as well. Born in Iran to activist parents. Married to G Stephanopoulis Sunday show's producer. Very Very special relationship w/Obama. Very special. Lots to learn about V.J.. Most Americans don't know about her.
I wonder what the backstory is here. Ain't gonna get truth outta NYT.

Birkel said...

Democrats yesterday: You have no right to tell Leftist Collectivists to shut up and sing.

Democrats today: Roseanne must shut up or lose her job.

Me: I have always thought shut up and sing was good solid advice.

Darrell said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
dreams said...

If only she had made bigoted comments about Mike Pence and Christians or said something bad about Sarah Palin and her children then all those poor actors wouldn't have lost their jobs. Oh, the humanity!

Anonymous said...

Nutty actor makes arguably racist, if barely comprehensible, tweet about an arguably black Swamp denizen.

My better nature doesn't care, but my baser nature drops in to gawk at the utterly hysterical over-reaction from the rage machine. Those adjectives, lol.

People need to learn that there are times when telling the rage machine to fuck off should have a higher priority than scrambling to present one's non-racist bona fides. (It's not like the rage machine cares about the latter, anyway.)

Browndog said...

Ripped from twitter (Stephen Miller):

We can solve everything if Roseanne sings the National Anthem while Kaepernick kneels for it.

Bruce Hayden said...

"Conservative humorist. Conservative comedy audience."

Not really. I would call Roseanne more a Trump Democrat. Or, what some call uncharitably "white trash". Or at least working class white. Similar demographic, pretty much, as Archie Bunker. Very different from the demographic that Tim Allen played, which was middle class conservative.

Darrell said...

Dr. Zaius just Tweeted--For the first time in my adult life, I am really proud of my planet. Zira Retweeted.

Darrell said...

Barr is a contrarian who leans Left.

traditionalguy said...

She was the only one bold and courageous enough to take the fire that comes when one criticizes VJ.'s appearance. And by doing so she exposed the Rulers of the power of the air.

Good job Roseanne. You were the star that creates the show. And ABC hates you for your success.

Sprezzatura said...

When it was announced that Cummings ditched the show a week, or so, ago I was wondering what was up.

Also recently, on the librul Pod Save America podcast (LA based), there were claims that Barr was way more nuts than had yet been publicly known.



Anywho, now it seems that more is publicly known. Though I doubt that all is yet known.

tim in vermont said...

So Rosanne is cancelled, which I can’t blame ABC, now Democrats are being asked to boycott the NFL.

Democratic Rep. Keith Ellison of Minnesota called for a boycott of the National Football League over a rule change prohibiting players from kneeling in protest during America’s national anthem.

I am sure that NFL fans will take this advice to heart!

Bruce Hayden said...

"Valerie Jarrett deserves to be mocked for the carnage she caused to Libyans, and if you have to throw in some jabs at her appearance to mock her.... no holds barred and all that."

I think that I would blame Lybia more on Crooked Hillary, and her pals: Huma Abedin, whose family has been close to the Muslim Brotherhood for longer than she has been alive, and Sid Blumenthal, who was working for parties trying to get security contracts in a post-Quidaffi Lybia. Ditto, of course, with Abedin, in Egypt, when Clinton helped push the MB (that has helped fund her family's newspaper for decades) to power there. My long term assumption here is that Obama bought the support of the Clintons by giving them the State Dept (and control over American policy) for his first term of office, and it was only when she left, and was replaced by the hapless John Kerry, that Obama and Jarrett took control over foreign policy. One way of distinguishing the two - first term, the Clintons were in it for the money. Second term, foreign policy seemed more ideologically driven.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Barr had a tough early life:

"At 16, Barr was hit by a car; the incident left her with a traumatic brain injury. Her behavior changed so radically that she was institutionalized for eight months at Utah State Hospital. While institutionalized she had a baby, which she placed through adoption."

n.n said...

Muslim Brotherhood is classified as a terrorists organization. Planet of the Apes was about a juxtaposition of apes and humans, where the former was a master and slaver class, and the latter were a protected and slave class. The Apes where black (warrior), brown (servers), and white (intellectual). Were there yellow and red apes, too?

So, what was the intent of her comment? It's not about [color] diversity and other incidental features, but that is the lens through which the left perceives and manipulates the world, missing the baby for the colorful clump of cells.

Big Mike said...

Incredible number of Althouse comments supporting Rosanne. Is nothing beyond the pale? Is partisanship that much of a rot on the brain?

There are many things beyond the pale. Valerie Jarrett and Chelsea Clinton are not among them.

Curious George said...

"Racist and Titty Twisting Chuck said:
To the extent that it is also a gutpunch for Trumpism, it's a Trifecta."

That would be zero dumbshit. Actually, this will heelp him.

BAS said...

No, it's not funny tag? You're not allowed to make fun of the way politicians look?

Browndog said...

Some say to know who rule you is to know who you cannot criticize.

Liberal logic dictates Planet of the Apes is a true story.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Barr ran for president on the Peace and Freedom Party ticket with activist Cindy Sheehan as her running mate. She came 6th overall.

She was endorsed by the Black Caucus of the Green Party.

Browndog said...

Google an Image of Valerie Jarrett.
Clearly, Barr was making fun of Jarrett's looks, her facial features.


You think Jarret looks like an ape?

Clearly!!!

chickelit said...

MAYBEE wondered “I wonder what the backstory is here. Ain't gonna get truth outta NYT.”

I wonder that too.

Skyler said...

I never liked her, but there used to be a time when comediennes were allowed to be funny and say really rude stuff. A lot of people used to like Andrew Dice Clay. This is incredibly tame in comparison.

Birkel said...

When she bent over, Rover took over...

ken in tx said...

I never watched her before, but now I want to.

Shouting Thomas said...

Fuck this ass kissing of blacks.

Fuck you, professor coward, for joining in the ass kissing.

Shouting Thomas said...

Are there any among you who aren’t just fucking cowards?

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Does anybody but Ritmo comment on these threads ?

You do, Michael KKK (usually to marvel at my comments) but no one reads what you have to say so it's all good.

chickelit said...

“Better yet, Google Images of their own children -- Hubbell's daughters and Davis' son.

Chelsea and Barack look like they could be the children of those men! No joke.”

Those who dare not even ask who Ronan Farrow’s biological father is are not about to even wonder such things. They would rather change the definition and meaning of parenthood.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Are there any among you who aren’t just fucking cowards?

Lol. Sir Thomas of Shouting Heart is suiting up with his fellow Templars for a race crusade, everybody.

Come join him!

Browndog said...

FOX NEWS: 'Roseanne' reruns will no longer play on CMT, TV Land and the Paramount Network

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

She's not getting a lot of love from some on the right:

Jonathan Last said ...
"People on the right were desperate to see Republican types portrayed with any sort of sympathy by Hollywood. And so, they latched onto her, and her show, despite the fact that Roseanne Barr isn’t any sort of conservative. They should have known better, because Roseanne isn’t just ‘not any sort of conservative.’ She is, at best, a vulgarian and, at worst, a cretin.”"


A woman of her times.

tcrosse said...

It's not like she called Valerie Putin's cock holster or anything.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Some say to know who rule you is to know who you cannot criticize.

Conservatism cannot rule the intelligent.

Openidname said...

Progressives shouldn't defend MS-13 just because Trump doesn't like them.

Conservatives shouldn't defend Roseanne Barr just because liberals don't like her.

Okay, okay, Roseanne Barr isn't as bad as MS-13, but you know what I'm saying.

cyrus83 said...

I'm somewhat surprised that more people aren't upset about the comparison to a terrorist group than to an ape, seeing as the ape analogy is taught in most biology classes.

This whole mess oddly demonstrates why multi-culturalism is doomed to failure. Roseanne said something nasty on Twitter toward someone who is a minority. As of now, her punishment for that involves cancellation of her show, memory-holing of said shows, and presumably blacklisting by Hollywood and polite society. But that raises a question - what sort of punishment would be deemed sufficient to consider the debt from the offense paid? In other words, what is her option for forgiveness?

If the answer is "there is none" that is effectively decreeing a life sentence or a death sentence for an offensive remark, which seems a rather steep penalty to impose. Now while Roseanne should have known better than to mix an ape and a black woman together, in an age where seemingly everything is racist and everything racist is worthy of destroying someone's life, this standard will tear society apart. And in that scenario, majorities tend to come out on top over minorities.

On a sidenote, Jarrett's response is illogical. To blame Trump on this is to claim that on the one hand Trump is making people more racist (implying that people can change), while at the same time most of the backlash commentary I'm seeing implies that Roseanne can never rehabilitate herself (implying that people don't change). It cannot be both, nor can people only change for the worse. Yes, I know logic is the second casualty of politics after truth, but can we attempt to have some consistency on human nature within the same news story?

Henry said...

Don't work with a drunk.

Shouting Thomas said...

The overwhelming problem for black people is that their urban neighborhoods are ruled by murderous black gangs that are allied with the Democratic Party.

Not what white people say or think about them.

This kissing of black ass in the hopes of inflating their self-esteem is laughably stupid fucking nonsense.

Don’t you fucking cowards have any sense?

Henry said...

This is not casual vulgarity. It's blood-libel level depravity. Thus my previous comment.

Jeff said...

No one is defending what Roseanne tweeted, and that's as it should be.

ABC's reaction was both correct and smart. They didn't wait to be inundated by the inevitable criticism from all sides with attendant boycotts, etc.. Instead, they minimized the damage to their organization and undoubtedly saved the corporation a ton of money by doing so. This is exactly how a free market is supposed to operate.

Counter to what many leftists claim, the market is not racist. If Roseanna were a government employee, how long would it have taken to fire her? Granted, if she was a political appointee, the firing probably would have been pretty swift. But if she had Civil Service protections? Or a union member?

William said...

It is instructive and edifying to compare Roseanne's treatment with that afforded Michael Richards of the Seinfeld show. Richards remarks were far uglier than Roseanne's stupid joke. Nonetheless, Richards was allowed to go on an apology tour. He was not exactly forgiven but neither did he become the most hated man in America. The Seinfeld show was in syndication, but it never got cancelled or lost ratings. The Seinfeld show remains a staple on syndicated tv. I presume the residuals continue to flow in and fatten Richards' bank account. Net net life is still good for Michael Richards. I don think such a sunny scenario will play out for Roseanne. I imagine Roseanne is now about to get the Harvey treatment and will now become the most hated woman in America........The joke wasnt funny. An affirmative defense for any comedian is that the joke was funny. It's a damn shame that her career has to end with a lame joke. That's not how she would have wanted to be remembered. RIP.

chickelit said...

“FOX NEWS: 'Roseanne' reruns will no longer play on CMT, TV Land and the Paramount Network”

I wonder if any of this draconian measure is due to the Obami moving into the movie business.

P.S. That was lowly but predictable of ValJar to directly blame Trump. As I wrote earlier, we need a national discussion on Valerie Jarrett and the lasting damage she did to the US, politicallly.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

The overwhelming problem for black people is that their urban neighborhoods are ruled by murderous black gangs that are allied with the Democratic Party.

They wouldn't be if people like you hadn't done so much to look the other way while they were redlined out of the better neighborhoods that they should have been able to move into for so many years.

James K said...

If ValJar had any class she'd accept Roseanne's apology and say "Let's move on." But no, she has to turn it into a race card "learning moment." Feh.

buwaya said...

ABC/Disney are less concerned with ratings for a TV show than their overall political-social position. The "long march" has indeed changed the values of people with vast amounts of money. Hegemony is a valid concept, it is a system of socio-cultural control from the top. This skews business decisions.

You see it all over, and its been going on a long time. Rush Limbaugh for instance, attracts a very large and seemingly valuable audience for high quality advertisers (Limbaughs audience skews very upmarket for radio). An ad buyer considering just value for the advertising dollar would do well there. However, there are social and reputational costs of bucking the hegemony, so while Limbaugh has done very well, he has greatly underperformed in revenue considering his audience, as many advertisers avoid him. And so with every right-wing media outlet, Fox included.

So ABC finds this successful show an embarrassment, partly because advertisers will avoid it because of fear of reputational costs, and partly because of ABC/Disneys own risk of reputational costs. And it won't be the public imposing these costs.

Gramsci explains a very great deal. The ways out of a hegemonic system are a "long march", or a revolt, a revolution that turns the world upside down. Gramsci forecast a long march because the Western European public was fundamentally hostile to revolutions, and his ideology was unwelcome to the masses. It still is, and can only really be sold to the upper-crust as a religion-substitute.

chickelit said...

The Obami are moving from politics into the media business. I presume they are taking their live-in advisor with them. Isn’t it telling that their first media victim is the star of a plausably anti-Obama show?

FullMoon said...

They wouldn't be if people like you hadn't done so much to look the other way while they were redlined out of the better neighborhoods that they should have been able to move into for so many years.

What makes a neighborhood 'better'?
What makes a neighborhood bad?

buwaya said...

What Gramsci did not consider was the prospect of a "long march" changing the ideological outlook of the upper class, but that the hegemony would then lose much of its power to influence the lower and middle. He thought that the hegemony had more power than it actually did.

What you have now is a powerful popular reaction against the hegemony.

William said...

Michael Richards although he said some extremely nasty things to a particular group of black people did not compound the offense by saying something nude about Republicans. His career is, of course, finished, but he was not buried at the crossroads with a stake through his heart. That's what would have happened if word got out that he was some kind of closet Republican.......Thought experiment: Is it possible to make a joke about Trump that is more offensive than Roseanne's crack about Jarrett. Say, if someone appeared with photo of Trump's severed head, complete with dripping blood, would that photo count as being more offensive than Roseanne's joke? I'm just trying to find out where the fences are.

chickelit said...

I think it was an offline back and forth we’re not privy to. Or it was something that ValJar said prior. Since it’s not out there, I don’t really know. That’s why I asked.

Ken B said...

James K
Yes. This shows what is wrong with social media at its core: “social media hates your soul” to quote Jared Lanier. Now even reflection or a chance to apologize cannot be tolerated. Action this day!

I understand why ABC might decide to bail — Barr “has form” as the Brits say. This isn’t her first or even tenth outburst. So why throw good money after bad. Social media would punish ABC relentlessly. Still, Barr did apologize, and it wasn’t a weasel apology. But that isn’t relevant any more. It's not that they decided that, in this case, the apology wasn’t enough. Rather, apology is impossible.

FullMoon said...

It has nothing to do with skin color of who lives there.

Correct. It does, however, have to do with the people who live there.

chickelit said...

“I understand why ABC might decide to bail — Barr “has form” as the Brits say.”

But didn’t ABC win the contest for having the most negative Trump News coverage? Or was that CNN?

buwaya said...

There is no doubt that the next episode of that show would have been the most popular of all. That is probably well understood by ABC. It is a sign of the hegemony failing.
The emerging open class hatred, not just of the masses versus the masters, but of the masters against the masses (the first is quite common, the second is not, at all, and only happens when the elite feel besieged), is the result of this hegemonic failure.

Browndog said...

Principles are templates. A perimeter you can overlay over any given situation, issue, as a guide to determine what is right or wrong, acceptable or unacceptable. A moral compass, if you will.

Outside the template--wrong, unacceptable, and vise versa. It keeps from having to nuance your standards into oblivion.

Certain, we are, that Roseanne deserved this. It was the right thing to do.

Had Roseanne been a vocal Obama supporter, hated Trump, and said a similar thing about Ben Carson, you'd dismiss it as "that's just the left being the left."

2 Minutes Hate was an absurd notion when I read it in a book decades ago. Not anymore.

n.n said...

Clearly, Barr was making fun of Jarrett's looks, her facial features.

Clearly, perhaps. Intent, no. The comment was about terrorism, slavery, diversity, and redistributive change, but also about retributive change. It was about master and owner, about unqualified and unreconciled progress. It was about judging by the content of character, rather than color of skin. There were pro-liberty and pro-life apes that opposed the regime, and joined with humans on principle. The close association set up by Barr is evidence of intent. Her antagonists have revealed theirs.

Vittorio Jano IV said...

In the original series, the character of daughter Becky Conner was played by two different actors: Lecy Goranson and Sarah Chalke. As I understand it Dan Conner's character was killed off in the original series only to be resurrected for the new series. IIRC, none of those changes were explained on the show. A solution other than cancellation might be available. However, maybe Roseanne Barr has the right to prevent her character being played by another actor.

buwaya said...

A purely audience-driven market would welcome controversy.
It draws eyeballs. Every rapper knows this.
But fear of insider retaliation against the broadcaster and its advertisers matters more, as politics and cultural warfare trump commerce.

Jeff said...

@buwaya said: There is no doubt that the next episode of that show would have been the most popular of all. That is probably well understood by ABC. It is a sign of the hegemony failing.

So we would have been treated to the spectacle of a huge hit show with no sponsors. And many of those sponsors would probably also stop sponsoring other ABC shows as well. It would have been a financial disaster for ABC. They made the right decision.

Browndog said...

chickelit said...

I think it was an offline back and forth we’re not privy to. Or it was something that ValJar said prior. Since it’s not out there, I don’t really know. That’s why I asked.


Indeed. Why did Roseanne target "vj" out of the blue?

No one wants to ask questions; meaning they don't want answers.

chickelit said...

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...”Barr ran for president on the Peace and Freedom Party ticket with activist Cindy Sheehan as her running mate. She came 6th overall.

She was endorsed by the Black Caucus of the Green Party.”
____________

Politics makes strangely fed bellows.

Sprezzatura said...

"I never liked her, but there used to be a time when comediennes were allowed to be funny and say really rude stuff."

Presumably this time was before that gal took the pic w/ DJT's fake head.



Not to mention the Dixie chicks being pull from airwaves.


Anywho, let's remove citizenship from ball players.


Carry on.

buwaya said...

But who, or what, would the sponsors fear?
Not the people, not the public, the mass. We are talking about a popular show after all, made even more popular by controversy. The people ache for it.
There is something else to fear.
The answer to that gets to the core of your problem.

Unknown said...

Since Jarret looks more white than anything else, perhaps Barr thought she was white and had no racist intent?

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