Roseanne Barr Blames Ambien for Racist Tweets
Roseanne Barr, whose Roseanne reboot was canceled Monday (May 29) after the comedian's string of racist tweets, has strangely blamed the episode on tweeting while under the influence of Ambien.
Barr, who took aim at former Barack Obama advisor Valerie Jarrett, called Jarrett a cross between a member of the Muslim Brotherhood and a character from Planet of the Apes. In turn, ABC pulled the plug on the comedy series' revival (many networks have followed suit by refusing to air additional reruns), but Barr insists the whole thing was the result of sedatives.
In a string of since-deleted tweets caught by Gizmodo, Barr wrote "I think Joe Rogan is right about ambien. Not giving excuses for what I did(tweeted) but I’ve done weird stuff while on ambien-cracked eggs on the wall at 2am etc.”
Still, Barr assumed responsibility, and added: "guys i did something unforgiveable so do not forgive me. It was 2 in the morning and i was ambien-tweeting-it was memorial day too-i went 2 far and do not want it defended-it was egregious Indefensible. I made a mistake I wish I hadn't but...don't defend it please. ty."
ABC president Channing Dungey said in a statement shortly after Barr's tweet about Jarrett began going viral: “Roseanne’s Twitter statement is abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values, and we have decided to cancel her show,” according to Variety.
About 200 people have lost their jobs as a result of the cancellation of Roseanne, which was just about to begin production on an additional season.