Roseanne Barr and the cast and crew of Roseanne all lost big on Tuesday, as did ABC after the network decided to cancel the revival of the popular series over a racist tweet Barr posted about an African-American former Barack Obama administration aide, but President Donald Trump decided to turn the attention on himself.

Trump Slams Roseanne Cancellation On Twitter

“[Bob Iger] never called President Donald J. Trump to apologize for the HORRIBLE made and said about me on ABC,” Trump wrote. “Maybe I just didn’t get the call?”


Trump took to Twitter on Wednesday to complain that Bob Iger, the CEO of ABC’s parent company Disney, called Valerie Jarrett to apologize after Barr said in a tweet: “Muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby =vj,” referring to Jarrett, a senior adviser to Obama who also served as Director of the Office of Public Engagement.

Barr apologized for the tweet and her show — a reboot of the popular 1990s series about a working-class family from the American Midwest — was cancelled after just two months. The TV star also said she would quit Twitter. Jarrett responded to the tweet about her by saying the incident was “a teaching moment.”

“I’m fine,” Jarrett said on MSNBC. “I’m worried about all the people out there who don’t have a circle of friends and followers who come right to their defense. The person who is walking down the street minding their own business and they see somebody cling to their purse, or run across the street, or every black parent I know who has a boy who has to sit down and have a conversation — the talk — as we call it. As you say, those ordinary examples of racism that happen every single day.”

Barr is a prominent supporter of Trump who has long drawn controversy for her racist, Islamophobic and generally offensive comments. Her show was also pulled from Hulu and several Viacom-owned channels including Paramount Network and TV Land.

“Roseanne’s Twitter statement is abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values,” ABC Entertainment president Channing Dungey, who is black, said in a statement.

Roseanne earned record ratings for the revival’s season premiere in March. Barr said Trump called her to congratulate her on the show’s success the day after the first episode aired. The show also starred John Goodman, Laurie Metcalf and Johnny Galecki. 

Late-night comedian Jimmy Kimmel‘s show airs on ABC. Kimmel is one of the many late-night hosts who has strongly criticized and mocked Trump since he took office, so the president may have partly been referring to him in his tweet.

 

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