“Roseanne” lived, was loved, and then died. We all thought that would be the end, but this year ABC dug up the show’s corpse and reanimated Frankenstein. ”Roseanne” came back for a premiere and a proposed eleventh season, but with a twist: the main character, Roseanne, was transformed into a Trump supporter.

Then two months later, Roseanne Barr tweeted that Valerie Jarrett was the product of the “muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes.” The show was pulled from air, amidst Barr’s capitulations and apologies. The ABC entertainment president said that Barr’s Twitter post was “abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent” with their values, then killed the project for good.

Reactions to the show’s cancellation were strong, some staying defensive, others baying for blood. But all this drama shouldn’t have happened in the first place. The show should never have been revived. Roseanne Barr may have been America’s darling twenty years ago, but her influence is now dangerous, her personality seeming unstable and possibly unhinged.

It’s strange that her tweet about Valerie Jarrett is the one that ruined everything for her, when she has been posting disgusting garbage for years without consequence. She’s tweeted about Pizzagate, promoted conspiracy theories on Reddit and even retweeted a “Pedogate” video, which claimed that some democrats, mostly those against Trump, were part of a secret pedophile circle. ABC knew all this when they decided to reboot the show and gave Barr a larger platform to preach from. It seems a bit hypocritical for them to disown her now. Even before this tweet, they should’ve know that the show couldn’t be separated from its creator. Barr was the heart of “Roseanne” both onscreen and behind-the-scenes. By accepting the show, ABC implicitly accepted her political leanings, disgusting posts and conspiracy theories.
The new “Roseanne” hit a lot of current political issues, covering topics like gender fluidity, non-traditional family structures and how to deal with family members with opposing views. The family was portrayed as loving and tolerant, even when they were in unfamiliar territory. They accepted and respected different viewpoints. If only Roseanne Barr had followed her show’s message, instead of toxic political cesspools on the Internet, maybe we’d all still be watching the Conner family navigate the new political world around them.
Rachel Mipro is a 19-year-old mass communication sophomore from New Orleans, Louisiana.