Roseanne Barr has blamed sleeping pills for her tweet likening an African-American former Obama aide to an ape.
The comedian blamed the offensive post on “ambien tweeting” – although she has since removed the tweet. Ambien is a sedative pill used as a sleeping aide.
ABC cancelled Roseanne’s sitcom over the racist tweet. They also apologised to the aide, Valerie Jarrett.
US President Donald Trump broke his silence on Barr, who has been an outspoken supporter of Mr Trump.
“Bob Iger of ABC called Valerie Jarrett to let her know that “ABC does not tolerate comments like those” made by Roseanne Barr”, Mr Trump tweeted on Wednesday, referring to the former White House senior adviser.
“Gee, he never called President Donald J. Trump to apologize for the HORRIBLE statements made and said about me on ABC.
Barr’s tweet said Mrs Jarrett – one of Mr Obama’s longest-serving aides – was the child of the Muslim Brotherhood and the Planet of the Apes film.
The television network said on Tuesday: “Roseanne’s Twitter statement is abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values and we have decided to cancel her show.”
The reboot of her hit sitcom Roseanne had been a ratings winner, and Mr Trump had called to congratulate her personally on its first season back.
Barr deleted Monday night’s post and said she was leaving Twitter, but has since posted a flurry of tweets including one claiming other comedians “have said worse”.
In another tweet, the TV star said what she did was “unforgiveable” and, while asking fans not to defend her actions, tried to explain away the post as having been caused by the effects of the sedative Ambien.
A spokeswoman for Sanofi, the pharmaceutical company that makes Ambien, said in response to Barr’s tweets about taking the sedative: “While all pharmaceutical treatments have side effects, racism is not a known side effect of any Sanofi medication.”
Source: BBC news
