Kenya Barris – I Almost Quit ABC Over Roseanne!

Kenya Barris – I Almost Quit ABC Over Roseanne!

Black-ish creator Kenya Barris recently shared that he was so livid with the Roseanne Barr controversy that he almost left ABC. The 43-year-old producer, director and show runner says that he was prepared to protest and speak out against the comedian for her controversial tweets that surfaced last month.  He says,

I was literally coming out of the show and I was like f— this. I was going to go crazy. I was going to call my agent and go on (CNN’s) Don Lemon and other shows. 

He says that he first called ABC Entertainment President Channing Dungey, Disney/ABC Television Group chief Ben Sherwood, and ABC Studios president Patrick Moran to warn them.

I was like, ‘I’m sorry guys’ and then I have to say, the response came in minutes.

He says that he received quite the surprise when network executives informed him of the plan to cancel TV’s highest-rated program. As previously reported, Roseanne made headlines after tweeting that the Obama administration adviser Valerie Jarret looked like an ape.

After ABC axed the show (‘Roseanne’), Kenya shared his excitement on social media.

Kenya added that the comedian’s tweets amounted to:

an indefensible moment but at the same time, you hired a monster and then you asked why the monster was killing villagers. 

Roseanne has since apologized. There are also multiple reports that a spin-off, not including Roseanne Barr, is in development.

By –Kina Lenee Gladney