A twitter rant has cost hundreds of people their jobs. Roseanne Barr, no stranger to controversy, caused ABC to cancel her show and cost some 200 people their jobs due to a nasty twitter rant aimed at former Obama Senior Advisor Valerie Jarret. In one of the tweets, and the most disturbing, Barr wrote, “Muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby=vj.” Barr was responding to a comment about Jarrett and later apologized, claiming she was on the drug Ambien at the time of her tweets.
Within a few hours, ABC issued a statement cancelling the show and Roseanne issued an apology. But, Brian Steinberg, senior TV editor for Variety says ABC had no choice.
“It stands to reason that most TV networks have a certain level expectation of behavior and when you cross a line that can’t be recrossed, this is the result. This is not a news network, or sports network or opinion news show like Sean Hannity. it’s a prime time sitcom for all people. It’s supposed to attract everyone across the country. So when a prominent star spouts out stuff like that, it’s hard for the network to defend.”
Steinberg was a guest on McIntyre in the Morning.
Sharon Reardon, KABC News