TV Shows

Zach Braff Laments the Cancellation of ‘Alex, Inc.’ Amid ‘Roseanne’ Ending

Zach Braff took the shocking Roseanne cancellation news to mourn his own short-lived ABC comedy […]

Zach Braff took the shocking Roseanne cancellation news to mourn his own short-lived ABC comedy series, Alex,Inc.

The Scrubs veteran took to Twitter Tuesday, as the social media platform was flooded with outrage regarding Roseanne Barr’s racist tweet against Valerie Jarrett, to throw a dig at the network for keeping Roseanne on the air and not his podcast company-based series.

Videos by PopCulture.com

“When your show got canceled, but you’re not racist,” Braff wrote, along with a GIF of himself in the tub giving a dog a bath.

The joke came a few hours before ABC announced it had canceled its Roseanne reboot following its star’s offensive comments toward President Barack Obama’s former adviser.

“Muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby=[Valerie Jarrett],” the tweet read. After the tweet garnered an avalanche of backlash online, it was later deleted.

ABC Entertainment president Channing Dungey announced later Tuesday the network had decided to cancel the series.

“Roseanne’s Twitter statement is abhorrent, repugnant, and inconsistent with our values, and we have decided to cancel her show,” read Dungey’s brief statement to press.

Many of Barr’s co-workers and usual defenders, including Sara Gilbert and Wanda Sykes renounced the tweet.

Disney CEO Bob Iger also came out in support of ABC’s decision to cancel the series, saying “There was only one thing to do here, and that was the right thing.”

Jarrett worked as the Director of the Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs in the Obama administration, from 2009 to 2017. She was born to American parents in Shiraz, Iran, where her father ran a children’s hospital. She and her family moved back to the United States when she was seven years old.

Barr later apologized to Jarrett and others, before announcing she would, once again, be leaving Twitter.

“I apologize. I am now leaving Twitter,” she wrote, adding in a separate tweet, “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.”

Alex, Inc. was based on Alex Blumberg’s podcast entitled “StartUp” about a man who quit his job to start his own company. Zach Braff executive produced and starred in the series and also directed some of the episodes.

The series was canceled ahead of ABC’s upfront presentation, where No. 1 comedy Roseanne took center stage.