President Donald Trump made his first public statement Wednesday over the cancellation of the popular ABC sitcom "Roseanne," tweeting he never got an apology for the "horrible" statements made about him on the network.
After Roseanne Barr sent a racially charged tweet about Valerie Jarrett on Tuesday, ABC swiftly canceled her hit show, which had become a cultural touchstone due to her character's support of Trump.
Disney CEO Bob Iger called Jarrett before ABC announced the show's cancellation.
"Bob Iger of ABC called Valerie Jarrett to let her know that "ABC does not tolerate comments like those" made by Roseanne Barr. Gee, he never called President Donald J. Trump to apologize for the HORRIBLE statements made and said about me on ABC. Maybe I just didn’t get the call?" Trump tweeted.
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1001848460881035265
Some critics of ABC's decision noted the recent re-hiring of Keith Olbermann by ESPN, another Disney-owned entity. Olbermann has frequently called Trump a Nazi and by vulgar names on social media.
Barr herself is also a supporter of Trump, although she ran for the far-left Green Party's presidential nomination in 2012. Trump did not mention her controversy during a rally with his supporters in Nashville, Tennessee, on Tuesday.
He called Barr to congratulate her in March after her show opened to huge ratings. It was one of the spring's biggest successes and had already been greenlit for a second seaosn.
Barr brought about her downfall by tweeting of Jarrett, "Muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby." Jarrett, who worked as a senior adviser to President Barack Obama, is black and was born in Iran. Barr apologized, but she also blamed the attack on Jarrett, Chelsea Clinton and George Soros on being on Ambien.
Barr's talent agency, ICM partners, also dropped her as a client in response to the Jarrett tweet.