Unpopular opinion: ABC should have let Roseanne apologize and keep her show

I agree

Can she kiss Muriel Hemingway at Lips again and redeem herself?

r2 at this point, she'd be better off with trying to do an American AbFab as she once wanted to do. Maybe Mirrorball instead.

Personally I agree but it still was their prerogative to fire Rosanne. The real issue is the vengeful network boss robbed Rosanne of millions of dollars worth of intellectual property. Forfeit all rights to the show and characters as a condition of allowing the show to continue without her.

For all the gratitude it earned Rosanne from her castmates.

Since the show only happened because of her and was based on her and she was the reason for its success and the interest in doing the reboot, yes. It's all based on her. It's like stealing to cut her out.

It’s a shame she’s nuts because the original series had great casting, minus that Becky thing.

r6 She's always been nuts that's well known in comedy circles before her show, the industry at large with her film and the series, of course. This because of politics, the time period in which it happened, the target (and their family history) then you also have the other drama, such as Sara (see "The Talk" drama before this). . . . let alone some of the writers, in particularly Wanda (also a producer). The corporate that had wanted her removed for other reasons. . . there's multiple layers.

As to other castmembers, hardly surprising the professional actors stayed while others left when she did or shortly, thereafter. The relationship with John is interesting, though. He's taken issue more than once, even gone to the press a few times like star spangled banner mishap.

But she also a Trumper. They'll hold that over her until the end of time, she serves as an example to all the others. . . and straight out, she's still in walkaway mode even if her opinion has shifted. She's not capable of doing the kind of pertinence it would require. But after her death, they'll likely give her honors. So, there's that.

R7 I really don’t understand the Trump thing. When the show was in its original run, she was all about standing up for the downtrodden. The Trump thing doesn’t seem like her.

They told her repeatedly to stop and she didn’t. She was being payed millions and she couldn’t keep him mouth shut. Sorry, she was basically giving the finger to her bosses. I’m not about to feel sorry for that woman.

She lied about her father molesting her. Her career should have been over ages ago.

[quote] Since the show only happened because of her

It didn’t. The show was the creation of Matt Williams. The end.

r9 wake me when they do the same to Whoopi.

Yes, unpopular opinion

Crazy lady got what was coming to her.

r8 It's easy enough to get caught up in. . . look at the years leading up with campus protests, comedians being deemed too triggering, questioning either these groups, ideals or authority viewed as deserving of physical violence... and it was coming from the left. It'd be a long time coming but we all saw it in smaller communities. comedians had been on the frontline for decades. It didn't and still doesn't take much to get accused of being a magat or literally worst than hitler.

like consider the anti-trans brigades here, I know some of them still consider themselves to be leftwing but they're willing parlay with far right because they give them a safe space, a platform. So, they become radicalized. . . they feverishly deny the problems on their side because if they do then that will be viewed as a weakness and send a brigade of pro transies to that link.

It goes on and on, different groups, same shit... all extremist tribalism.

There's no real easy solution to get out of it.

too many people want all or nothing.

so, they'll continue to fuel the discord.

Most of us would prefer if celebrities, left or right, just shut the fuck up... but yet we also still expect them to elevate causes like no one else can.. given their celebrity status and the powers, privileges contained therein.

Lesbians don't have penises, r14, and there's nothing "left wing" about medicalising and sterilising children who don't conform with bizarre, outdated 1950s gender stereotypes. The batshit radicalised are the ones who go absolutely crazy if anyone states a fact such as transwoman are men.

r15 is such denial, I'm discussing. They deflect, distort and deny the other popular issues in their movement that target lgb specifically as well as numerous other draconian politics.

She's total batshit. But she was the entire show. I still watch it, but there's no there there.

They should have made it work.

also, r15 many in your movement claim to be lesbians yet are not by any traditional definition. In fact, they tend to despise WSW and blame them along with gay men for trans in the first place to which then the far right and fundamentalist religious groups cosign as slippery slope with both groups looking to overturn (or prevent) equality laws geared towards gays and lesbians. I need not flood all those links and quotes here, do I?

There is only one answer to this. Which I think i write everytime someone brings this up.

ABC is owned by Disney. Disney did the math and decided within hours that a boycott from black customers would be far more economically damaging than killing off the new Roseanne series (which they'd already made their money off of with the full 1st return season). They also wanted the story to end fast.

This was 100% Disney. The accountants and PR people each spun the best and worst case scenarios within a few hours and I'm guessing Iger decided Disney was better off chopping the story off. By firing her fast, it protected Disney from claims of racism. If they were to have waited, the same decision and eventuality would have seemed like bowing to pressure after not acting quickly enough and would have hurt Disney. And it worked. Disney was 100% inoculated and black kids got their Frozen dolls for christmas that year.

This decision was not an ABC decision. ABC probably wouldn't have even had the authority to make such a fast decision with such large economic consequences without permission from above anyway.

Also, Roseanne claims within days she signed over the rights to the show so it could continue and with very little payment. So its nice of her to have done that.

With the exception of Lecy Goranson's performance, the show has been completely joyless since Roseanne left. Darlene is the quintessential supporting character, not a lead. I agree with OP, but I understand what R19 is saying.

Agree it’s been joyless. But they had no choice. They had an unstable star willing to burn down the house.

[quote] Disney did the math and decided within hours that a boycott from black customers would be far more economically damaging than killing off the new Roseanne series

Wrong. Everyone walked.

Roseanne is banned from ever working for ABC and essentially Disney again. It was part of the agreement. Hey career is over.

I THOUGHT THE BITCH WAS WHITE!!!!!!

It was the Ambien.

Ok, I'm retarded.

Celebrities should just stay off of Twitter. Most of them don't seem mature enough to handle it.

I think that final display of her craziness was just the straw that broke the camel's back. It was the culmination of years of the producers having to deal with her mental illness. It just wasn't worth it anymore.

She also took Mr Hankey down with her, damn her.

Bitch got what she deserved. Next.

If it had been a situation where it was just the original comment and nothing else, they probably could have dealt with it. The problem was she doubled down, then Wanda Sykes publicly quit, then Roseanne also tweeted that George Soros was a Nazi who turned in Jews to the Nazis so he could steal their wealth, and THEN Roseanne apologized. At that point there was nothing left to do but get rid of Roseanne.

If she hadn't been such a legendary pain in the ass during the original "Roseanne," especially from the Tom Arnold years on, she might've managed to hold onto her job after that tweet. She was kept on a much shorter leash the second time around for good reason.

But like everyone whose talent and influence used to bail them out of tight spots (for her, on a weekly basis), she was unprepared for this new reality. She has no one to blame but herself.

She's a MAGAt piece of shit. Fuck her. I guess Roseanne found out words and actions have consequences.

I tried The Conners, but, as others have pointed out, it's a joyless show, basically poverty porn. The Conners revel in their bad financial situation and constant bad financial decisions. No one on the show is likable.

John Goodman is a shadow of himself, and there's no way a hottie like Jay R Ferguson chooses someone like Sara Gilbert.

R10 I was molested!

She's an awful person, simple as that.

Barr's real-life brother and sister are gay

Of course she deserved a second chance!

[quote] Why didn’t they just let her apologize and then take her Twitter away? Other people get away with way worse things than that.

After the Jarrett comment they were really in a hard place--that was just inexcusable. They could not legally remove her access to twitter, and they had already warned her before about her offensive comments (she had even had her kids hide her Twitter password from her--nothing worked).

She's a mentally ill person and cannot control her offensive behavior, so they had to ditch her. I feel zero sympathy for her since she's more than wealthy enough to get help for her problems.

The entertainment industry always wants to work with "edgy" creative people, but they often have mental illness (see also: Kanye, Ezra Miller, Shia Lebeouf) and rampage out of control. Sometimes they can work with them, but for each of them there's a point of no return, and Roseanne reached hers.

[quote] Other people get away with way worse things than that.

That's no argument; that's whataboutism.

I'll get heat, but it's because she's female. You can rape, harass, be a dick, etc., If you are a straight, white male. Mel Gibson, CK Louis, Polanski, even Bill fucking Cosby, all like genital herpes -- might disappear for a little awhile, but always makes a come back. Even the difference between Ellen vs James Corden. Guy is a known dick, with stories worse than ones about her, but still around, doing just fine. And no, I'm not giving extra pity to women, because we see the inequality of outrage happen about gay men, (sometimes) men that are not White, or both. Kevin Spacey is done, despite doing nothing worse than many of the straight men mentioned.

While there's a case to be made that social media fuels targeted witch hunts, one thing never discussed is how certain demographics don't ever recover, while the cases everyone pitied as being "unfair", weren't the career killers they were made out to be. Those complaining of cancel culture only seem to care when it's specific people. You'll see them defend CK Louis, but they have nothing to say when it's a gay man, a lesbian, a man that's not white enough, or a woman. Of course, there's exceptions to rule, (Will Smith for ex), but it's more rare and we'll see. Just see Dave Chappelle, where that would've been an instant career killer, but he's still doing SNL, on Netflix, etc. See the contrast with JK Rowling, where you'll never see her offered a tv spot again.

If Roseanne had been a straight white guy, there would've been a subset of fans making sure she didn't completely bomb. There would've been a comedy tour, or podcast, type of opportunities by now. I'll even bet on it, Will Smith will eventually claw back some of his status with time. The foundation was already laid, with a subset believing he is a victim of a bad wife. Just you wait a few years. Even Kanye has to be the worst of the worst, and he was still being put out there and given excuses.

Btw, not saying a network wouldn't have cancelled a man for saying the same things. They had no choice and they made the right call to remove her from the show (I don't agree with them stripping her of all her rights, they're hypocrites for wanting to make money off her show, but I digress), however, I'm saying that with time, some of the upset would've faded more by now. That's how these other guys get away with it -- they can wait it out and their bad qualities/ actions get spun into a different story. Like they are just whacky, or were going through something, or didn't do anything "that bad", etc.

Roseanne did some stupid things on Twitter. The network had to take SOME action. But to kick her off her own show seemed a bit harsh. Couldn't they make her apologize and then put her through some diversity training? I remember when the Michael Richards slur incident went viral, just before the Seinfeld DVDs were to be released. He appeared on some talk shows, one with Jerry Seinfeld, apologizing for what he had said.

It's a shame she behaved that way because her show was ground breaking in the 80s and 90s. There was an episode where she realized that she might be racist. (DJ didn't want to kiss another little girl, who was a POC, in his school play. Her dad came to visit at the diner, and Roseanne realized she had panicked at the sight of him angrily knocking on the diner door.) Her show also did so much to mainstream LGBT characters in network TV. Not to mention the show had strong but subtle feminist themes.

R38 is very insightful. WW

They fired her because the black woman running ABC is anti-semitic.

It's her show. She created the characters. If they needed to fire her, then the show should have ended.

[quote]Other people get away with way worse things than that.

Agreed. Exhibit A: Whoopi Goldberg.

All this nonsense over Valerie Jarrett...some Obama hack who nobody had ever heard of.

Life (and the Connors) has been just fine without Barr around. Let’s keep it that way

[Quote] It's her show. She created the characters. If they needed to fire her, then the show should have ended.

The show is actually among the best things on TV now—hilarious, even without her

The problem is Roseanne refuses to apologize

Ahh...now it makes sense now r4. Wonder how she got that position. Hmm..

Sarah Gilbert finally comments at R47 .

Jay R. Ferguson has put on a ton of weight this season.

[quote]It's her show. She created the characters.

No, it isn't.

No, she didn't.

Why 5 years later and 5 seasons later is this still an issue? She worked for a multinational corporation. She violated that companies practices and standards. She was given two choices. Cancel the show entirely or walk away. SHE chose to walk away. End of story.

It had nothing to do with the President being black, for Christ’s sake.

Roseanne was burning down the house, and showed she was beyond reason. It was putting Disney in a really bad spot.

And once an employee has shown you they are unapologetically insubordinate, there is no option other than to release them immediately.

She called a black woman a gorilla.

There is no coming back from that BS. It’s the 21st century.

The only shame in all this is that a mentally ill woman got swept up by hateful propaganda.

Did Roseanne apologize for her comments?

There was probably a lot going on behind the scenes that got her axed. I'm guessing she pissed off, personally, a bigwig at ABC. All of the crazy shit she was doing publicly, on Twitter, just gave the bigwigs an official / ostensible reason to fire her.

She's unhinged, offensive, and obnoxious. Somebody at ABC wanted to get rid of her and make her suffer.

She quasi-apologized after Sean Hannity talked her into it during an interview about how mean the world was being to her.

So, not really, no.

An apology needs to be made directly to the person involved.

Jay R Ferguson can get it. Such a gorgeous smile.

The Conners is a drag though.

It’s really a terrible shame. While I agree ABC had no choice, the Connerw would be watchable with Roseanne back.

John looks like someone has let the air out of his space and spirit.

Laurie is the show’s Don Knotts, her talent hidden under layers of shtick.

Sara shows none of the special talent she showed as a teen. She’s a drag.

Only Lecy is watchable.

[quote]Did Roseanne apologize for her comments?

She claims to be "retarded," therefore unaccountable for her actions.

[quote]Just see Dave Chappelle, where that would've been an instant career killer, but he's still doing SNL, on Netflix, etc. See the contrast with JK Rowling, where you'll never see her offered a tv spot again.

She was rarely on TV in the first place, and she did several interviews in 2022, including Graham Norton.

She did an apology tweet, r57, then said she was going to skip doing interviews and release her own video explaining what happened. What she released was some weird thing with her on stage, getting mad when the Valerie Jarrett thing was brought up, and screaming "I thought the fucking bitch was white!"

People's landline to kick her off the show and felt like they could make it work without her all the way back to like the first couple of seasons. Clearly she's always been a pain in the ass to deal with and they've always had this plan in their back pocket.

She would have apologized and done it again. They gave her a million chances. They have a moral clause in contracts and the rest of the talent at ABC was fed up being held to it while she just kept getting away with murder.

OP = Republican

You guys want to "investigate" harmless drag shows but being racist is fine

[quote] Why 5 years later and 5 seasons later is this still an issue?

We have someone who has posted this several times here. It's sad that she ended up in that spot, but as R66 very astutely mentions:

[quote] She would have apologized and done it again. They gave her a million chances.

Roseanne had made so many odd comments over the years and crossed the line. The whole dressing like Hitler in front of an oven. I get that she's edgy as a comic but she crossed a line.

I do watch the Conners now and then. It's nice, but it feels like they always Almost But Not Quite land things. I like Lecy, and Jay R. Ferguson needs to be inside me quite deeply. But as much as I love Laurie Metcalf, I feel like they destroyed Jackie and have miswritten her every step of the way in the new show. I do kinda like Katey S, and she fits nicely with that group.

I’m behind in watching the episodes, but the last one I saw was the best in a long time. Estelle Harris was back as Jackie and Roseanne’s mother and was developing dementia. It reminded me of the ROSEANNE show. It had heart.

Because Trump fanatics and Roseanne fanatics need to see their names.

Since Roseanne was killed off of the show, it would be fun to have her back as a vengeful corpse.

ZOMBIE Roseanne!

That would make a great Halloween episode where Roseanne claws her way back from hell and begs forgiveness for fucking up their lives. Like Satan's 12 Step.

[quote]Did Roseanne apologize for her comments?

Yes, she did. She clearly stated she didn’t know the bitch was black.

[Quote] Did Roseanne apologize for her comments?

No, she made excuses rather than give a direct apology

Valerie Jarrett was being talked about as a running mate for Biden. The public had extremely limited knowledge of her until the Roseanne saga. So in my opinion Roseanne really boosted VJ’s profile and career.

Valerie Jarrett is a light-skinned woman who grew up in Iran. It’s reasonable to assume some people didn’t think she was black.

Not everybody who looks at this would first think of Kunta Kinte

Cool, R77.

But why associate a "white/light skinned" woman with Planet of the Apes?

They were clearly looking for a reason to fire her. She made this comment, and literally two minutes it was breaking on every news outlet that she’d been fired. Black comedians get away with saying far worse with zero consequences.

[Quote] Valerie Jarrett is a light-skinned woman who grew up in Iran. It’s reasonable to assume some people didn’t think she was black.

Please. Like Roseanne called her a gorilla because she thought Jarrett was a white woman who liked bananas

Didn’t Roseanne also claim she was on ambien when she wrote that?

It was excuse after excuse

All it would have taken was a sincere and full-throated apology, and ABC could justifiably stick by her.

She was incapable of it, despite, surely, her agent, business manager, spouse, etc. beseeching her to do it and giving her a step -by-step guide for making it go away.

Yet she refused.

ABC believed in the old adage, fuck me once cunt, shame on me...

Isn’t it interesting to watch people screw themselves over? Roseanne has such a knack for it.

[quote]Didn’t Roseanne also claim she was on ambien when she wrote that?

Yes and Ambien responded by stating that racism is not a known side effect of taking it.

I never thought Sara had talent r61. She only got work because of who her sister was.

Roseanne reflects.

r86 They also initially rejected the idea of ambient sleepwalkers and similar episodes with something to effect of "when taken PROPERLY" - that's just a smartass, p.r. response.. people are more prone to be bigots or worse in inebriated states... their filters are impaired. But yes, Rosie's excuses were weak. If she had immediate said she made a mistake by lashing out and not thinking it thru.. well, it still would have been shit but she would have garnered more public empathy in the long run. Isntead like most celebs, she doubled down and kept digging the hole. There's a lot of hypocrisy to go around.

r80 word is they always wanted to be Sara's show more than the ensemble, hoping to capitalize on BBT success and pull in those viewers and a younger audience than the nostalgia crowd (that's not as apt to invest in merch). Plus she was gunning for it herself - they secured her for the show, despite her numerous problems elsewhere (her marriage falling apart, the talk show drama, her personal reputation starting to become public).. by giving her additional control, financial interest and credit. (the real dagger was them bringing in Katey Sagal later, another nepo baby with a questionable passive-aggressive industry history and some successes but falls short, then there's the semi-feud with Roseanne since the original show.)

also, unpopular but Roseanne had wanted to show to be representative of families of the day, mixed politics, while still highlighting comtemporary issues that even magats would disagree with but also, have a few core values that would upset the coastal libs too. She kid of set herself up with a lot of the people she got involved (some old, but many new.) and being naive enough to think their off camera relationships would be stronger than their public p.r.

They also failed in they could have used her and walked back some walkaways. . . Val has always been a controversial figure and more so when the fbi had released their investigation into her father weeks before. Frankly, abc (as it's done for others for arguably worse) could have removed her show for six months, sent her to rehab or even private mental health facility (as they've done for alleged rapists to other public freakouts) However, she did target a public political figure at a time of heightened hysteria. It was a stupid move and she made it worse.

r68 (don't look at Bob Saget's laundry list of deeds either.)

R41 = R38

r29 Most Jews don't like Soros being held up as an excuse. They believe he was a nazi enabler that profitted off the Holocaust (which he did and brags about it without shame). But there is nuance and Roseanne also has a complicated history with Israel especially as most her politics veered to the far left. (people want to dismiss horseshoe theory but there's a lot of high profile individuals that pushing it might be true.).

In those video clips, she keeps saying she is left wing and it's dangerous for women to have left-wing statements. That was like 10-15 years ago? What happened to radicalize her into a right-wing Trump supporter? I would never consider her left-wing today, but apparently most of her adult life she was?

R95 When her show was in its original run she even made a big deal about abortion rights.