Wanda Sykes, the seasoned Black comedienne, consulting producer and head writer for The Roseanne Show announced that she is stepping down after Roseanne Barr derogatory remarks made on Twitter earlier today where she called former White House senior adviser, Valerie Jarrett, an ape.
I will not be returning to @RoseanneOnABC.
— Wanda Sykes (@iamwandasykes) May 29, 2018
Barr has since walked back her comment and tried to apologize saying:
“I apologize to Valerie Jarrett and to all Americans. I am truly sorry for making a bad joke about her politics and her looks. I should have known better. Forgive me — my joke was in bad taste,” she wrote on Twitter. Barr also said she was leaving the social media platform.”
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The damage had already been done and her apology is literally too little and too late.
Barr attacked Jarrett, an African American woman, about an article which unsubstantiated claims suggesting President Obama once had special forces spy on the President of France.
“muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby=vj,” Barr tweeted in response to a post about Jarrett.
Barr’s Muslim comment toward Jarrett follows the thought process of conservatives who tried unsuccessfully to assert that Jarrett was behind a secret push to make America a “more Islamic country.” But according to the fact-checking website, Snopes, that claim is “false.”
Barr took to Twitter to apologize for the smear saying:
“It’s a joke,” she wrote in response to a CNN reporter.
“Muslims r NOT a race,” she said in response to another user.
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The two unconnected ideologies however were thrown together by Barr to make a harsh and insensitive attack on Jarrett. But this is her cup of tea and not the first time Barr has come under fire for taking a pot-shot at minorities.
ABC has yet to condemn Barr for her deliberate bigoted remarks, but Sykes’s decision to disassociate herself from the show is the first step in someone saying they do not condone Barr’s sentiments.