‘Roseanne’ Producer Whitney Cummings Breaks Silence on Show’s Cancellation

Whitney Cummings is still heartbroken and angry about Roseanne‘s cancellation. The show’s former showrunner and producer, who exited the series months before Roseanne Barr sent a racist tweet that ultimately led to the show being canceled, told TMZ that she’s still “pissed off” about how the show ended.

In her first public statement about the show’s downfall, which can be seen in the video above, Cummings struggled for the right words when asked to describe her feelings about the mess.

“I don’t even know what to say other than it’s a real shame for everyone. All the cast and crew are so proud of all the work we did,” Cummings said, adding that other writers and actors from the show may try and create a Roseanne spinoff without Barr.

“I think that everyone is just so desperate to preserve the legacy of a show that touched so many people…everyone’s trying to stop the bleeding and preserve all the damage that has been done,” she said, adding that Barr shouldn’t benefit from a potential spinoff. “My heart’s broken about it so I don’t really have words at the moment. Maybe they can salvage the legacy but if it benefits [Barr] financially…it’s a bad move.”

Even if a spinoff were to happen, Cummings said it would include neither Barr nor herself.

“I have too many gray hairs in my head from this experience. I’m doing my own thing and trying to make my own show and doing standup. I’m just trying to heal from the whole thing and make sense of it all. I was just as horrified as everybody else and really heartbroken about it,” she said.

When asked if she could go back and “kill off” Barr’s character, she said she doesn’t even want to think about Barr.

“I can’t think of any funny ways to kill Roseanne, but I don’t even want to think about it. Killing her would mean I have to think about her and I don’t even want to do that right now. I’m too pissed off,” she said.

Cummings said she left the show “months ago,” long before Barr’s racist tweet led to the show’s cancellation. News of her departure was reported by The Hollywood Reporter almost two weeks before the controversial show was canceled.

Over the weekend, Cummings made a thinly veiled reference to the debacle in a social media post with actress Sarah Chalke, who played the second Becky on the original run of Roseanne and Andrea in the revival series.

“Well at least I got this pal out of that whole mess,” Cummings tweeted, along with a selfie of herself and Chalke.

Previously, she told THR that she felt like she was the “PC police” behind the scenes of Roseanne.

“I was the ‘you can’t say that anymore’ and ‘now this is the word we use’ one,” she said earlier this year. “And they were like, ‘Yeah, but that’s not how people in this town at this age in this income bracket talk.’ And I learned, it’s not about what we would say, it’s about what they would say.”

Cummings joins the many actors, writers, producers and other crew members who have voiced their dismay for the fate of the show, sparking hope that it could live on through a Barr-less spinoff.

Reports have claimed ABC is close to announcing a potential spinoff centered about Darlene Conner (Sara Gilbert), the daughter of Barr’s character. But it’s possible Barr could block any such spinoff from happening, given her financial stake in the original show and characters she created.

While no solid details about the Roseanne reboot have been announced, it is believed that most of the cast and crew would return for the project.

Gilbert recently spoke out about the controversy from her co-host seat on CBS’ The Talk last week.

“I am proud of the show we made,” Gilbert said on The Talk. “The show has always been about diversity, love [and] inclusion. And it’s sad to see it end in this way. I’m sad for the people who lost their jobs in the process, however I do stand behind the decision that ABC has made.”

Photo credit: Instagram / @whitneycummings