Roseanne cancelled: Ava DuVernay, Kumail Nanjiani, other celebs thank ABC chief, criticise Barr's racist tweet

US television network ABC on Tuesday cancelled the hit working-class comedy Roseanne , after its star Roseanne Barr aimed a racist tweet at a former advisor to Barack Obama.

The 65-year-old sitcom actress — a vocal supporter of President Donald Trump who has used Twitter to voice far-right and conspiracy theorist views — took aim at the aide, Valerie Jarrett, in a post that read: “Muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby = vj.”

After a barrage of criticism on social media, Barr apologised to Jarrett and to “all Americans” for what she called a “joke.”

“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,” she tweeted. “I apologize. I am now leaving Twitter.”

Her belated mea culpa was not enough for ABC, which said it was pulling the plug on Barr’s show over the “abhorrent, repugnant” tweet, which was “inconsistent with our values.” The backlash to her latest tweet was swift, with public figures from actors Rosie O’Donnell and Don Cheadle, comedians Kumail Nanjiani and Ricky Gervais to CNN analyst April Ryan calling out Barr, while comedian Wanda Sykes, a consulting producer on Roseanne, announced before the cancellation that she would not be returning to the show in any case.

I will not be returning to @RoseanneOnABC.

— Wanda Sykes (@iamwandasykes) May 29, 2018

her racist comment was childish
and beneath her best self https://t.co/46UxuufsnE

— ROSIE (@Rosie) May 29, 2018

@therealroseanne, you break my heart -- You are a sorry excuse for a human being. How odd that you, as a comedienne, have forgotten then meaning of a "joke" and a personal comment. Your meanness is staggering and will earn you a ticket to a sad, lonely and sorry life.

— Rita Moreno (@TheRitaMoreno) May 29, 2018

This wasn't censorship. This was business. She hasn't been prosecuted. She hasn't been silenced. She can carry on saying what she wants. It's just that her employers have decided they don't want to employ her any more. This is freedom. https://t.co/O1VIz6bzSp

— Ricky Gervais (@rickygervais) May 29, 2018

Thank you Channing Dungey!https://t.co/VIlKTF9y7Z

— Viola Davis (@violadavis) May 29, 2018

But honestly she got what she deserved. As I tell my 4 year old, one makes a choice with one’s actions. Roseanne made a choice. A racist one. ABC made a choice. A human one.

— shonda rhimes (@shondarhimes) May 29, 2018

I bet FOX will pick it up & pair it with Tim Allen's show. https://t.co/5MyZf9UT3X via @thr

— Mark Hamill (@MarkHamill) May 29, 2018

Man, was the Third Reich “racially charged” or what? Amirite?

— Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) May 29, 2018

Has she reflected at all on the blood libel of a 14-year-old George Soros for her claim that he was a wartime Nazi collaborator who betrayed other Jews? Because that, from a public figure in a public forum, is fucking astonishing. https://t.co/Bj6aw3dWTA

— David Simon (@AoDespair) May 29, 2018

With inputs from AFP