Comedian Marlon Wayans is speaking out against Roseanne Barr’s racially-charged tweet that caused the cancellation of her highly-rated ABC series.
In a recent interview, Wayans joked he was the one behind the tweets in order to get the competition out of the way for his NBC sitcom, Marlon.
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“Here’s the beauty of the show getting canceled — My show comes out June 14 and I’m just so happy, the competition is gone,” Wayans said at LAX during a TMZ interview.
When asked why he thought Barr wrote the tweet in the first place, Wayans chalked it up to her political support of the current presidential administration.
“Because in this Trump era people feel like, ‘Hey, racism is back. Let me throw a little racism out there, let me see what happens,’” he said. “Bob Iger was like, ‘Nah, we don’t do that over here.’”
The interview wrapped with Wayans being asked what he thought Barr might do now that her show is over.
“Apparently she’s going to get a whole lot of corporate gigs. KKK, they have a lot of gatherings. She’s going to go there and kill. They’ll laugh their hoods off.”
Barr’s original tweet, which she has since deleted, was a joke regarding former Barack Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett’s appearance.
“Muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby = vj.”
Wayans is far from the first celebrity to give their opinion about the tweet.
“You fought, build, and designed Roseanne for inclusiveness,” Roseanne cast member Michael Fishman wrote on Twitter. “This is why yesterday was so out of character with the last 30 years. It was in your hands from the beginning to the end. No one can deny that.
“This is what I’m gonna say, Roseanne, just because you were caught with your pants down, don’t try to drag other people down with you,” The View host Whoopi Goldberg said on a recent episode.
Modern Family star Ariel Winter called the situation a “f—ing mess” on Twitter.
“Her comments are just deplorable and what is wrong in the world at the moment,” Winter wrote on Tuesday. “[Barr] has punished the rest of the cast and crew because she can’t resist spouting hate speech. Sending love to everyone else involved with that show.”
Late night television host Jimmy Kimmel, who has had a number of interactions with Barr in the past, said the situation should lead to a discussion about mental health.
“What [Roseanne] said is indefensible, but angrily attacking a woman who is obviously not well does no good for anyone,” Kimmel tweeted. “Please take a breath and remember that mental health issues are real. The Roseanne I know could probably use some compassion and help right now.”
