Updated on May 29 at 11:30 a.m. PT: ABC has canceled Roseanne after the show’s star made controversial comments on Twitter.
Previously:
Wanda Sykes says she won’t be returning to her job as a consulting producer on ABC’s Roseanne amid a controversy over comments made by the show’s star, Roseanne Barr, on Twitter.
“I will not be returning to @RoseanneOnABC,” Sykes tweeted Tuesday morning.
I will not be returning to @RoseanneOnABC.
— Wanda Sykes (@iamwandasykes) May 29, 2018
Her announcement came after Barr tweeted racially-charged comments about Valerie Jarrett, a former top adviser to President Barack Obama.
In a now deleted tweet, Barr said Jarrett was an offspring of Islamist organization Muslim Brotherhood and the movie Planet of the Apes.
Jarrett was born in Iran and is African-American.
“Muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby=vj,” Barr wrote using Jarrett’s initials as she responded to a tweet about the former White House aide.
Read More: ABC Cancels ‘Roseanne’ Reboot After Roseanne Barr’s Racist Tweets
After some Twitter users said the tweet was racist, Barr replied, “Muslims r NOT a race.”
The outspoken supporter of President Donald Trump later apologized saying her comment about Jarrett was “a joke.”
First she tweeted: “I apologize. I am now leaving Twitter.”
Minutes later she posted a longer apology.
“I apologize to Valerie Jarrett and to all Americans. I am truly sorry for making a bad joke about her politics and her looks,” Barr tweeted. “I should have known better. Forgive me-my joke was in bad taste.”
https://twitter.com/therealroseanne/status/1001470384556752898
https://twitter.com/therealroseanne/status/1001471669641216005
But her mea culpa may not have been enough for Sykes, who worked on season 1 of the ABC reboot.
The show was renewed for a second season shortly after it premiered in March. But Sykes says she’s out, and won’t be returning for season 2.