President Donald Trump is speaking out on the cancellation of his supporter Roseanne Barr’s show on ABC as fallout from her racist remarks on Twitter continues.
Trump praised Barr for the successful reboot of her eponymous show, but was notably silent after it was canceled Tuesday following a racist rant Barr let loose on Twitter. (She compared former Obama advisor Valerie Jarrett to an ape).
- On Wednesday, he addressed the issue on Twitter: "Bob Iger of ABC called Valerie Jarrett to let her know that 'ABC does not tolerate comments like those' made by Roseanne Barr. Gee, he never called President Donald J. Trump to apologize for the HORRIBLE statements made and said about me on ABC. Maybe I just didn’t get the call?"
- Less than a day after the cancellation, a former Trump campaign aide is planning to bring her show back, The Daily Beast reports. Michael Caputo is chief marketing officer for a new online streaming platform called Bond. He said his team plans to reach out to her “immediately.”
- Bond aims to draw 75,000 paying subscribers in its first year. The first episode of ABC’s reboot drew 27 million viewers.
AMBIEN, CAST MEMBERS, WHOOPI GOLDBERG CLAP BACK
- Meanwhile, after Barr blamed her rant on the sleeping medication Ambien, the drug’s maker responded, tweeting that "While all pharmaceutical treatments have side effects, racism is not a known side effect of any Sanofi medication."
- Barr also lashed out at costars who criticized her tweet. She reposted a tweet by Sara Gilbert, aka Darlene. (Gilbert also served as executive producer on Roseanne).
- Gilbert called Barr’s initial comments “abhorrent,” saying they “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.”
- “Wow! unreal,” Barr wrote in response. Later, she walked back her stance on Gilbert: “no, I understand her position and why she said what she said. i forgive her. It just shocked me a bit,” Barr wrote.
- She also lashed out at Michael Fishman, who played her son D.J. He complained about the impact her comments had on the rest of the Roseanne team.“i created the platform for that inclusivity and you know it. ME,” Barr responded. “You throw me under the bus. nice!”
- Barr also blamed consulting producer Wanda Sykes for the show’s cancellation. (Sykes said on Tuesday that she wouldn’t return, before ABC had a chance to respond). She wrote of Sykes: “her tweet made ABC very nervous and they cancelled the show.”
- Whoopi Goldberg also responded to a doctored photo Barr tweeted out of her. (It featured a bloodied Trump).
- “In her Twitter rant following the cancellation, [Barr] also retweeted a false picture of me. So here we go again. Here is the truth about the shirt I was wearing at the Women’s March in New York,” she explained on The View. “Now some bonehead photoshopped a horrific image on the shirt. And she retweeted this.”
- The message on Goldberg’s shirt actually read: “And you thought I was a nasty woman before? Buckle up, buttercup.”
BONNERS?
- ABC is considering reviving parts of Roseanne minus Barr, according to Entertainment Weekly. If it moves forward, the show would be designed around Laurie Metcalf, John Goodman and the rest of the crew and could be titled The Bonners.
- Some ballpark the lost potential ad revenue for ABC at $60 million.