Disney CEO Bob Iger has made his position clear: Canceling the hit ABC series “Roseanne” was the “right thing.”
The company’s top executive tweeted his thoughts Tuesday afternoon shortly after the network announced it would drop the show. The decision came hours after Roseanne Barr, the star of the show, went on a racist Twitter rant.
“There was only one thing to do here, and that was the right thing,” Iger tweeted. ABC is one division of the film, TV and theme park empire.
In his tweet, Iger also included a statement released earlier Tuesday by Channing Dungey, the president of ABC Entertainment.
“Roseanne’s Twitter statement is abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values, and we have decided to cancel her show,” Dungey said.
Barr has been attacking prominent Democrats this week. In one of her tweets, she wrote, “Muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby=vj.”
Barr was responding to a comment about Valerie Jarrett, a top former aide to President Barack Obama. She replied to CNN reporter Andrew Kaczynski and said it was “a joke.”
But Barr later deleted the tweet and tweeted an apology to Jarrett and “all Americans.”
The cancellation stunned Hollywood — “Roseanne” has been one of ABC’s biggest hits.