Channing Dungey, Woman Who Axed ‘Roseanne’, Is 1st Black President of Major Broadcast TV Network

Channing Dungey

Channing Dungey, Woman Who Axed ‘Roseanne’, Is 1st Black President of Major Broadcast TV Network

Channing Dungey has received much social media praise in the controversy surrounding Roseanne Barr’s tweets. Dungey, who is the president of ABC Entertainment, took immediate action on Tuesday (May 29th) and canceled Roseanne after the comedian/actress sent anti-semitic and racist tweets.

In the aftermath of the tweets and ABC’s decision to cancel her show, fans and critics focused on Channing, whose statement about the firing went viral. In a statement Channing explained,

Roseanne’s Twitter statement is abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values, and we have decided to cancel her show.

Although, this isn’t the first time Roseanne’s tweets have been subject to controversy, it was her
remark about Valerie Jarrett, a former top adviser to President Barack Obama, that caused a media firestorm.

Channing, 49, is known in the entertainment industry as a trailblazer. In 2016, she made history as the first black president of a major broadcast TV network when she took over the role once held by Paul Lee. Before taking over the role, she was ABC’s executive vice president for drama development, movies and miniseries and had served as senior vice president of drama development since 2009.

Channing began her career as a development assistant for Davis Entertainment at 20th Century Fox, then worked as a story editor for Steamroller Productions and as a production executive at Warner Brothers. In 2004,  she met with network officials to pitch a program to Touchstone Television, which is now ABC Studios, they hired her and she’s been with ABC ever since.

Scandal Cast circa 2014

The married, mother of two helped launch popular shows, Scandal and How to Get Away With Murder, both of which feature diverse casts. Channing is also behind TV shows American Crime, Nashville and Quantico as well.

What do you think of Channing’s decision to cancel Roseanne?

By: Kina Lenee Gladney