Roseanne Barr Claims Ambien Played Role In Racist Tweet That Led To Show's Cancellation
Follow KDKA-TV: Facebook | Twitter
By: Ivana Kottasová
(CNN Money) -- Roseanne Barr has fired off another series of eyebrow-raising tweets.
The sitcom star unleashed a stream of messages in the early hours of Wednesday after ABC canceled its hit show "Roseanne" over her racist tweet.
Barr claimed that her tweet about former Obama administration official Valerie Jarrett was not racist, and that she was fired because of fears over a potential boycott of the show's advertisers. She also lashed out at co-stars Michael Fishman and Sara Gilbert.
"You throw me under the bus. nice!" she said in a tweet directed at Fishman.
i created the platform for that inclusivity and you know https://t.co/hViHPX2ZUb. You throw me under the bus. nice!
— Roseanne Barr (@therealroseanne) May 30, 2018
Gilbert, who plays Barr's daughter on the ABC sitcom, tweeted that Barr's comments are "abhorrent and do not reflect the beliefs of our cast and crew or anyone associated with our show."
Gilbert added: "This is incredibly sad and difficult for all of us, as we've created a show that we believe in, are proud of, and that audiences love — one that is separate and apart from the opinions and words of one cast member."
It was Barr's earlier tweet about Jarrett that caused outrage and ultimately led to the show's cancellation. In a response to a comment about Jarrett, Barr had said: "Muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby=vj."
Barr later deleted the tweet and apologized for it.
"I am truly sorry for making a bad joke about her politics and her looks," Barr tweeted on Tuesday. "I should have known better. Forgive me -- my joke was in bad taste." Barr then said she was leaving Twitter.
But in messages posted from her Twitter account on Wednesday, Barr claimed she had been mistaken about Jarrett's race.
She also claimed that she had been on Ambien, a medication used to treat insomnia, at the time. She has since deleted the tweet.
Sanofi, the maker of Ambien, issued a statement saying "racism is not a known side effect of any Sanofi medication."
People of all races, religions and nationalities work at Sanofi every day to improve the lives of people around the world. While all pharmaceutical treatments have side effects, racism is not a known side effect of any Sanofi medication.
— Sanofi US (@SanofiUS) May 30, 2018
"I honestly thought she was Jewish and Persian-ignorant of me for sure, but...i did.," she said.
i honestly thought she was Jewish and Persian-ignorant of me for sure, but...i did.
— Roseanne Barr (@therealroseanne) May 30, 2018
Following Barr's Twitter rant, one of the show's consulting producers, Wanda Sykes, said she's done with the show. "I will not be returning to @RoseanneOnABC," Sykes tweeted.
Barr also continued to tweet about George Soros, a liberal donor who has been painted as the villain in many right-wing conspiracy theories.
One message she re-tweeted on Wednesday falsely accused the Hungary-born Jewish billionaire of collaborating with the Nazis.
Related: The inside story of how ABC fired Roseanne Barr
Barr also said her firing "worked out" because she "would leave when they started to try to censor me."
The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2018 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.
