May 31, 2018 3 min read

You can be a television sitcom star or you can be an outward racist. But you can’t be both.

That’s what ABC declared this week when it pulled the plug on its smash-hit comedy “Roseanne” after its namesake star and creator, Roseanne Barr, tweeted out a racist post early Tuesday morning.

In the tweet, Barr referred to former Obama administration official Valerie Jarrett, who is black, as the offspring of the Muslim Brotherhood and characters from “Planet of the Apes.” It took just 53 Twitter characters to unmask a racist.

Hours later, ABC executives canceled the series ahead of the much-anticipated fall schedule.

Barr initially apologized for her “bad joke” in “bad taste” and said she was leaving Twitter. Then she made the dubious claim that she posted the racist message while on Ambien, a widely used sleeping aid. It seems that the “I was on Ambien” explanation is the new “I was hacked” excuse when it comes to outrageous behavior by celebrities on social media.

She later whined to her Twitter followers that as difficult as it was for her show to be canceled, it was much worse for her personally to be labeled a racist. Well, Roseanne, if the shoe fits, wear it. And she’s worn it regularly.

Barr often has waded into far-right-wing conspiracy theories on her Twitter feed and even posted a photo of her baking gingerbread cookies while dressed as Adolph Hitler. In what universe are Holocaust jokes ever funny? She also called Susan Rice, another former Obama official who is black, an ape in 2013.

ABC executives called Barr’s comment “abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values.” Still, they’ve known about her behavior for years, including her grotesque rendition of our national anthem in 1990, which she capped by spitting and grabbing her crotch. But at least she didn’t take a knee.

Now, ABC stands to lose millions in advertising revenue after pulling its highest-rated television show from the airways. It surely will get backlash from the “Roseanne” show’s fans, some of whom surely are willing to look beyond Barr’s detestable behavior for a few laughs.

The show’s wide appeal developed, in part, because it spoke to middle-class people and highlighted the everyday struggles in their lives. That can be replicated by someone who isn’t tweeting racist messages at 2 a.m.

ABC’s swift action was a win for decency in a society that seems to have very little of it nowadays. Others who traffic in racism, sexism and homophobia should be on notice that these opinions won’t be tolerated. Even if you have the biggest show on television.