Roseanne Barr Blames Ambien for Racist Tweet, Apologizes to ‘Roseanne’ Cast & Crew

Meaghan Darwish May 30, 2018, 11:45 am

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ROSEANNE BARR, LAURIE METCALF — ABC/Adam Rose

It’s been one day since ABC canceled its smash hit Roseanne and star Roseanne Barr has issued an official apology for the racist tweet that rocked the TV world.

The comedienne — who was blasted for likening former Obama White House Adviser Valerie Jarrett to an ape — first announced her departure from the social media platform, tweeting, “I apologize to Valerie Jarrett and to all Americans. I am truly sorry for making a bad joke about her politics and her looks. I should have known better. Forgive me-my joke was in bad taste.”

I apologize to Valerie Jarrett and to all Americans. I am truly sorry for making a bad joke about her politics and her looks. I should have known better. Forgive me-my joke was in bad taste.

— Roseanne Barr (@therealroseanne) May 29, 2018

Of course, her silence only lasted a few hours as she later returned to the Twitter-verse to further apologize and defend herself. In some now-deleted tweets, Barr wrote, “Don’t feel sorry for me, guys!! Today my words caused hundreds of hardworking people to lose their jobs,” and “Guys I did something unforgiveable 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. I made a mistake I wish I hadn’t but…don’t defend it please.”

ABC Cancels 'Roseanne' Revival After Roseanne Barr's Racist Tweet

While Barr’s Ambien defense was later erased from her page, she did release a statement via Buzzfeed‘s Kate Arthur, in which the comedienne summed up her official apology. Barr’s statement reads:

“I deeply regret my comments from late last night on Twitter. Above all, I want to apologize to Valerie Jarrett, as well as to ABC and the cast and crew of the Roseanne show. I am sorry for making a thoughtless joke that does not reflect my values — I love all people and am very sorry. Today my words caused hundreds of hardworking people to lose their jobs. I also sincerely apologize to the audience that has embraced my work for decades. I apologize from the bottom of my heart and hope you can find it in your hearts to forgive me.”

Here’s @therealroseanne‘s apology. pic.twitter.com/YWZ6i6WWq7

— Kate Aurthur (@KateAurthur) May 30, 2018

thanks, Kate! This was written by me. I have nothing more to say.

— Roseanne Barr (@therealroseanne) May 30, 2018

She has since tweeted more apologies, addressing Valerie Jarrett directly.

@ValerieJarrett i don’t know if u saw it, but I wanted2 apologize to u 4 hurting and upsetting u with an insensitive & tasteless tweet. I am truly sorry-my whole life has been about fighting racism. I made a terrible mistake wh caused hundreds of ppl 2 lose their jobs. so sorry!

— Roseanne Barr (@therealroseanne) May 30, 2018

hey guys, don’t defend me, it’s sweet of you 2 try, but…losing my show is 0 compared 2 being labelled a racist over one tweet-that I regret even more.

— Roseanne Barr (@therealroseanne) May 30, 2018

Still, some are pointing out that this isn’t Barr’s first time using the term “ape” to describe an African American woman.

In a 2013 tweet, Barr referred to former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and national security adviser Susan Rice writing, “Susan rice is a man with big swinging ape balls.” She later deleted the post but not before others had pulled images of it. Susan Rice shared the image after Tuesday’s fallout which had been tweeted out.