The encyclopedia · Advertising & PR · Marketing decision · 2018
ABC cancelled Roseanne the day its star posted a racist tweet
The hit revival was renewed within days of its debut — and cancelled within hours of a single tweet.
ABC · Roseanne · 2018-05-29
What happened
On 29 May 2018 Roseanne Barr posted a racist tweet about Valerie Jarrett, a former Obama administration official. Hours later ABC cancelled her sitcom — the revival that had been renewed for a second season within days of its March debut and was the ratings success of the television season.
ABC Entertainment president Channing Dungey's statement named the reason in one sentence: 'Roseanne's Twitter statement is abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values, and we have decided to cancel her show.' The network had no fallback position and announced no next step — a hit show, its cast and its crew were simply gone, less than three months after the revival had returned to the schedule.
Why it happened
- The network renewed the show within days of its debut, so the cancellation reversed a decision already made — the value of the revival and the cost of one tweet were priced on the same day.
- ABC's statement did not explain or defend — it called the tweet 'abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values' — because advertisers decide in hours and the network had no time to wait.
- The revival was built around its star's name and politics: the show was the star, so when the star became the story, there was nothing left of the show to save.
The lesson
A show built on one star's name rents the star's audience — and the star's next tweet. The revival was renewed within days; it took a single post to cancel it within hours.
Aftermath
ABC moved the show to a spinoff, The Conners, which premiered in October 2018 without Barr; the first episode wrote her character out of the series. Barr did not return to the franchise.
Sources
- ABC cancels Roseanne after racist tweet about Valerie Jarrett — CBS News, 29 May 2018
- Roseanne cancellation over racist tweet sparks mixed reactions — ABC News, 29 May 2018
- Without Roseanne, 'The Conners' Go On — NPR, 17 October 2018
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