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Racism Isn’t a Side Effect: Roseanne Slammed for Appearing to Blame Ambien for Valerie Jarrett Tweet

By | Published on May 30, 2018
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Roseanne

(Photo by Vera Anderson/WireImage)

Roseanne Barr continues to experience fall out over her racist tweet and her apology hasn’t made anything better.

The comedian on Monday, May 28 tweeted of former Barack and Michelle Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett, who is Black, “muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby=vj.”

The post spurred an uproar from fans who swiftly called for ABC to cancel the hit reboot of her sitcom “Roseanne.” Not long after, ABC Entertainment President Channing Dungey announced the network pulled the show.

“Roseanne’s Twitter statement is abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values, and we have decided to cancel her show,” Dungey said in a statement issued Tuesday, May 29.

Since then, Barr, who tweeted an apology to Jarrett, has been dropped by her management, ICM Partners.

“We are all greatly distressed by the disgraceful and unacceptable tweet from Roseanne Barr this morning,” reads an internal memo obtained by Deadline Tuesday. “What she wrote is antithetical to our core values, both as individuals and as an agency. Consequently, we have notified her that we will not represent her. Effective immediately, Roseanne Barr is no longer a client.”

Plus, networks including Paramount Network, TV Land, and CMT along with streaming platform Hulu and the digital service Laff have dropped reruns of the original “Roseanne” from their lineup, according to Entertainment Weekly.

And then, Barr tweeted Tuesday night that she had been taking Ambien and seemed to blame the sleep aid for her racist tweets.

“Guys I did something unforgivable so do not defend me. It was 2 in the morning and I was Ambien tweeting,” Barr tweeted in a since-deleted post. “It was Memorial Day too —I went 2 far & do not want it defended — it was egregious Indefensible. I made a mistake I wish I hadn’t but… don’t defend it, please. [Thank you].”

Roseanne

She later added, “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 2 a.m. etc.”

Roseanne

In another deleted tweet she said, “Don’t feel sorry for me, guys!! — I just want to apologize to the hundreds of people, and wonderful writers (all liberal) and talented actors who lost their jobs on my show due to my stupid tweet. I will be on Joe Rogan’s podcast Friday.”

The post quickly garnered a fierce response from detractors — including Dictionary.com and the maker of Ambien.

“About six years ago, I was on Ambien for chronic sleeplessness due to anxiety. I hallucinated a handful of times, and my friend (then-roommate) said I tried to talk to a ficus tree in our living room. No racist comments, tho.”

“Ambien makes you racist? No wonder some of y’all can’t get woke. 😛.”

“Roseanne is lying. Ambien actually makes you less racist because you get so tired you take your Klan robes off and use them as bed sheets.

“People of all races, religions and nationalities work at Sanofi every day to improve the lives of people around the world.” a representative for Sanofi, the pharmaceutical company that sells the sedative told TMZ Wednesday. “While all pharmaceutical treatments have side effects, racism is not a known side effect of any Sanofi medication.”

Barr, who has been retweeting posts that support her and bashed the cancelation of her show, refuted the claims that she blamed Ambien for her racism.

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