‘Roseanne’ Contracts Had Provisions to Fire Stars for ‘Offending the Community’

In the wake of the Roseanne cancellation on Tuesday, it turns out that ABC had a contingency plan in place to fire actors for racist public comments.

ABC canceled the Roseanne reboot on Tuesday morning just a few hours after Roseanne Barr herself tweeted a racist conspiracy theory about Valerie Jarrett, a White House adviser from the Obama administration. While many applauded the network for putting morality ahead of money, some felt that it was a little too late, as Barr has been espousing racism and conspiracy theories for years.

Now, it turns out, the network could easily have dumped Barr for breach of contract at any time. According to a report by The Blast, the contracts that actors signed for the reboot included a clause stating the wide range of things they could be fired over.

Roseanne actors could be fired if the “artist at any time commits any act or omission constituting a felony, a misdemeanor or other violation of criminal law, an intentional tort, reckless conduct, gross negligence or other malfeasance.” They could also be let for incurring “public disrepute or humiliation, contempt, scandal or ridicule” that “insults or offends the community or any substantial group thereof.”

This is far from the first time Barr has been in trouble for her inflammatory rhetoric online. As many have pointed out, she’s spent the last several years building up a following with far-right tweets that often include conspiracy theories. She is associated with things like QAnon, PizzaGate and many others.

The tweet that finally ended the Roseanne reboot on Tuesday implied that Jarrett, who was born to American parents in Iran, was associated with the Muslim Brotherhood extremist group. It also included a racist comparison to the Planet of the Apes franchise.

Earlier that same night, Barr was still online posting a long-debunked conspiracy theory about activist George Soros. For years, stories have claimed that Soros worked with the Nazis during World War II to continue their atrocities and rob their victims. According to a report by Snopes, the idea is completely fabricated, not least of all because Soros was a child during the war.

On Monday night, Barr proposed an unfounded idea that Chelsea Clinton was married to one of Soros’ nephews. Clinton responded.

“Good morning Roseanne – my given middle name is Victoria,” she wrote. “I imagine George Soros’s nephews are lovely people. I’m just not married to one. I am grateful for the important work @OpenSociety does in the world. Have a great day!”

“Sorry to have tweeted incorrect info about you!” Barr responded. “Please forgive me! By the way, George Soros is a nazi who turned in his fellow Jews 2 be murdered in German concentration camps & stole their wealth-were you aware of that? But, we all make mistakes, right Chelsea?”

Barr’s posts about Soros were retweeted by Donald Trump Jr.