The cancellation of ABC’s Roseanne reboot mere hours after star Roseanne Barr’s racist Twitter tirade sent shockwaves throughout the entertainment industry on Tuesday, with network colleagues, co-stars, and celebrities alike applauding the show’s end.
Shonda Rhimes, creator of ABC network hits like Scandal and Grey’s Anatomy, tweeted, “honestly she got what she deserved. As I tell my 4 year old, one makes a choice with one’s actions. Roseanne made a choice. A racist one. ABC made a choice. A human one.”
While the 90’s working-class reboot garnered over-the-moon TV ratings and was approved for a second season after just one episode, ABC’s swift action suggest little tolerance from the network for Barr to continue her firebrand antics.
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“This is incredibly sad and difficult for all of us, as we’ve created a show that we believe in, are proud of, and that audiences love—one that is separate and apart from the opinions and words of one cast member,” Roseanne co-star and executive producer Sara Gilbert tweeted. Consulting producer Wanda Sykes earlier announced on Twitter that she would not return to the show.
“I am hurt, embarrassed, and disappointed,” wrote cast member Emma Kenney “The racist and distasteful comments from Roseanne are inexcusable.”
Viola Davis, star of ABC’s How to Get Away With Murder, also thanked ABC entertainment chief Channing Dungey for cancelling Roseanne. And Martha Raddatz, host of ABC’s This Week political news program, simply tweeted that she was “proud” to work at the network in light of the cancellation.
Kenya Barris, creator of ABC’s hit sitcom black-ish, posted a screenshot of a headline announcing Roseanne’s cancellation on Instagram, captioning it “Bye-bye!!!” and tagging Dungey and Disney CEO Robert Iger alongside an emoji of hands clasped in thankful prayer. Barr infamously quipped about black-ish and Fresh Off the Boat—two ABC sitcoms centered around a minority family—in a recent Roseanne episode, receiving prompt backlash.
Ava DuVernay, famed director of Selma and A Wrinkle in Time, tweeted out a picture of Dungey saying she was “Sitting on top of your world like a Queen in full judgement of your garbage and taking it out.” The director continued by giving “props” to Iger and congratulating the network for “stepping up and doing the right thing here.”
Silicon Valley star and The Big Sick writer Kumail Nanjiani tweeted that he was “glad” the show was cancelled, and that the “backlash to its cancellation is going to be a deafening nightmare.” Zach Braff, star of former ABC show Scrubs, said he was “impressed” with the network and noted that “it appears they have an open time slot,” perhaps a wink-and-nod at his desire to get Scrubs back on television.
And the reactions weren’t just limited to Hollywood. “Thank you, ABC. You did the right thing,” Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) wrote. “There is not any room in our society for racism or bigotry.”
