CNN’s Don Lemon just put into words exactly what a lot of people are thinking about Roseanne
Actress Roseanne Barr (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)
CNN news anchor Don Lemon has slammed Roseanne Barr as a “bigot” and a “racist’ – and that viewers of her TV show “bought into her bigotry.”
Lemon made the comments live on air in the hours after ABC cancelled the reboot of Barr’s TV comedy series Roseanne in response to her making an “abhorrent” and “repugnant” statement, which likened Barack Obama’s former aide to a Planet of The Apes character.
“This isn’t about stifling. If you’re a conservative and you’re supporting someone who is a bigot, who is a racist — and let’s not get it twisted,” the 52-year-old journalist said. “And let’s not soften the words here and say, oh, racially tinged.
“This is racist. She is racist. There’s no other way to put it. The president traffics in racism as well. And I have said that I believe he is a racist because he traffics in the same thing.”
News anchor and host Don Lemon attends the Ellie Awards 2018 on March 13, 2018 in New York City. (Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images for The Association of Magazine Media)
Lemon added: “And she’s not just about playing to it. She is promoting these conspiracy theories that people are believing…And people are starting to believe that it’s OK.
“They believe these conspiracy theories because there are people like Roseanne who have a platform and a megaphone to push it out there all the time”
Addressing the “20 million” people who followed Roseanne, he said: “Why do they follow her?
“Because, in some way, they bought into her bigotry. And at least part of what she was selling is the bigotry, the racism, the homophobia, the conspiracy theories. That’s all part of Roseanne.”
ABC Barr had termed Obama’s aide Valerie Jarrett as the offspring of the “Muslim Brotherhood & Planet of the Apes,” in the highly offensive tweet.
“Roseanne’s Twitter statement is abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values, and we have decided to cancel her show,” ABC Entertainment president Channing Dungey said in a statement, reported Variety.
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Other tweets in the tirade claimed that Chelsea Clinton was married to one of George Soros’ nephews and called Hillary Clinton “a colostomy jug cuz full of shite.”
She was highly criticised for the tweets, and apologised and said that she would leave Twitter.
“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,” she wrote.
Roseanne was set for a comeback this Autumn.
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The once-popular US sitcom would have broadcasted another thirteen episodes as part of its eleventh season.
There had been a twenty-one-year gap between seasons nine and ten.
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In a recent interview, the Trump-supporting comedian claimed that President Trump was an advocate of LGBT+ rights.
“Considering that Trump opposes many of the principles that you and Roseanne Conner have stood for, how can you support him?” a New York Times reporter asked Barr.
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She responded: “No, he doesn’t, I don’t think he does. I don’t think so at all. I think he voices them quite well.”
The reporter clarified: “I’m thinking of abortion rights, same-sex marriage rights, labor protections —”
Barr cut in: “He doesn’t oppose same-sex marriage.”
When the reporter attempted to clarify that “he has not come out in favour of it”, Barr spat back: “He does. Yes, he does. He has said it several times, you know, that he’s not homophobic at all.”
