Less than 24 hours after saying she was leaving Twitter, Roseanne Barr was back on the platform, attacking cast members of her former show whom she accused of stabbing her in the back.
Barr’s most pointed charge came toward actor Michael Fishman, who played her son D.J. Conner in the ABC reboot.
“My character was designed to represent the inclusive nature of my views. To represent portions of society often marginalized. In this moment it is important to be clear,” said Fishman in part of a lengthy statement posted to Twitter on Tuesday after Barr came under fire for a racist tweet about former Obama aide Valerie Jarrett. “We must stand-up against; bias, hatred, bigotry and ignorance to make society a better place for all.”
After retweeting pointed criticism by Sara Gilbert, who played Roseanne’s daughter Darlene Conner and served as a producer on the reboot, Barr turned around and said it was “unreal.”
Barr blew up her show and much of her career Tuesday morning after tweeting a joke calling Jarrett, who is African American the child of the Muslim Brotherhood and the Planet of the Apes. The tweet was deleted a few hours later, but it was not enough to save her show, which was canceled after a cabal of ABC and Disney executives ruled that the matter was untenable.
“Roseanne’s Twitter statement is abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values, and we have decided to cancel her show,” read a terse statement from ABC Entertainment chief Channing Dungey, which moved quickly Tuesday to expunge any history that Roseanne ever existed. Barr was also dropped by her talent agency, ICM Partners.
Barr had been the biggest ratings jewel on the ABC lineup and the cancellation opens a major sinkhole in the network’s programming for next season.
Barr’s early-Wednesday tweets seem to walk back from the more contrite apology she delivered late Tuesday night in which the comedian said she had been tweeting too late while on Ambien and urged her fans not to defend her.
“guys I did something unforgiveable [sic] so do not defend me. It was 2 in the morning and I was ambien tweeting-it was memorial day too-i went 2 far & do not want it defended-it was egregious Indefensible,” she said. “I made a mistake I wish I hadn’t but…don’t defend it please. ty”
She later deleted the apology.
9 Stars Who Faced Consequences After Inappropriate Tweets, From Roseanne to Alec Baldwin (Photos)
A lot of celebrities have said dumb, offensive or tasteless things on Twitter. But while most of them just get ratio'd until they apologize or delete the problem away, some stars have had to face real consequences for their 280-character mistakes. Most prominently was Roseanne Barr, whose ABC sitcom was canceled after she tweeted racist comments about former Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett and billionaire Democratic Party donor George Soros. Here are some other stars who paid a steep price for the things they tweeted.
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Chad Ochocinco - Aug. 2010
It wasn't what football star Chad Ochocinco tweeted, but when he tweeted that got him in trouble. Ochocinco was fined $25,000 by the NFL after tweeting during a football game he was playing in. "Man I'm sick of getting hit like that , its the damn preseason [expletive]! 1day I'm gone jump up and start throwing hay makers , #Tylenolplease," he wrote. He sent another tweet at the end of the game apologizing, adding, "1st time twitter hasn't made me money but cost me money."
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Gilbert Gottfried - March 2011
Gilbert Gottfried is known for shocking audiences, but his joke about a tsunami that hit Japan didn't go over so well with insurance company Aflac. Gottfried voiced the Aflac duck in the company's commercials for 11 years but was fired when he tweeted, "I just split up with my girlfriend, but like the Japanese say, 'There'll be another one floating by any minute now."
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Alec Baldwin - June 2013
Alec Baldwin came under fire back in 2013 when he tweeted threatening, homophobic comments to a reporter who wrote a story that Baldwin's wife tweeted during the funeral for James Gandolfini. "If (sic) put my foot up your f—ing ass, George Stark, but I'm sure you'd dig it too much," said Baldwin. He followed that with: "I'm gonna find you, George Stark, you toxic little queen, and I'm gonna f— … you … up." He later apologized directly to GLAAD and briefly suspended his use of Twitter.
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CeeLo Green - Sept. 2014
Singer CeeLo Green's show "The Good Life" was canceled by TBS in the same week that Green both pleaded no contest to a felony charge and tweeted the following about rape: “People who have really been raped REMEMBER!!!" He also said, "If someone is passed out they’re not even WITH you consciously! so WITH Implies consent.” Green later apologized.
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Rosie O'Donnell - Dec. 2017
Rosie O'Donnell was slapped by Twitter itself after telling conservative pundit Ben Shapiro to "suck my d---." Shapiro reported her, and after Twitter initially said the tweet did not violate its policy, Shapiro cried double standard. Twitter reversed its position soon after and removed her tweets.
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David Eason - Feb. 2018
David Eason, who starred on MTV's "Teen Mom 2," was fired from the show in February after tweeting homophobic comments. He referred to gay and transgender people as "abominations" who he would teach his kids not to associate with.
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James Gunn - July 2018
Director James Gunn was fired from Marvel and Disney's "Guardians of the Galaxy" franchise after a series of old tweets of his resurfaced making "offensive" jokes about rape and pedophilia. Gunn apologized for the tweets, and the stars of "Guardians of the Galaxy," most notably actor Dave Bautista, defended Gunn and asked that he be reinstated as director.
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James Woods - Sept. 2018
Actor James Woods found himself locked out from Twitter after sharing a meme that was considered potentially "misleading" about the midterm elections. Woods is a noted conservative known for his often inflammatory right-wing commentary. He even revealed on Twitter he was dropped by his agent on July 4, who said he was feeling "patriotic" to no longer represent Woods. Fellow pundits accused Twitter of a liberal bias with an attempt to silence conservative voices. Woods was eventually reinstated to Twitter in October and said he did not delete the offending tweet in order to get reinstated. "As a conservative I am not about to walk on eggshells because of Twitter’s bias or liberal insanity in general,” Woods said upon returning to Twitter.
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Rosie O’Donnell, Gilbert Gottfried and Chad Ochocinco got slapped with more than just backlash after these social media faux pas
A lot of celebrities have said dumb, offensive or tasteless things on Twitter. But while most of them just get ratio'd until they apologize or delete the problem away, some stars have had to face real consequences for their 280-character mistakes. Most prominently was Roseanne Barr, whose ABC sitcom was canceled after she tweeted racist comments about former Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett and billionaire Democratic Party donor George Soros. Here are some other stars who paid a steep price for the things they tweeted.