‘Speechless’ Star Minnie Driver Bashed for Using ‘Roseanne’ Cancellation to Promote Her Show

Speechless star Minnie Driver is getting bashed on social media after using Roseanne‘s sudden cancellation as an excuse to promote her ABC show.

Driver joined the avalanche of voices from Hollywood who spoke out in support of the network after it decided to cancel the hit revival series following a racist comment made by Roseanne Barr on social media.

So proud of [ABC] for having the ethical compunction to cancel [Roseanne] despite the show’s huge numbers. We too make a show about a middle class family, come and watch us instead,” she tweeted, also tagging the Twitter account for Speechless, the comedy series she stars in.

Driver’s fans were not happy about her messages, one of them accusing her of taking a “cheap shot” at Barr’s moment of “crisis.”

“Cheap shot. Show compassion to a fellow human being who made a mistake. She and a lot of good people are out of a job. Do you think it’s appropriate to shill your show in the wake of someone’s crisis?” One user wrote.

Another user was less offended, but did take note of Driver’s opportunistic tweet, to which Driver responded: “Opportunity is not a bad thing. Racism is.”

The downfall of broadcast television’s No. 1 comedy began early Tuesday morning after Barr shared a racist tweet toward President Barack Obama’s former adviser Valerie Jarrett.

“Muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby=[Valerie Jarrett],” Barr’s tweet read. The message quickly received an outpouring of backlash, which eventually led to the series’ cancellation.

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

Disney CEO Bob Iger retweeted Dungey’s statement on Twitter adding, “There was only one thing to do here, and that was the right thing.”

After several hours, Barr apologized to Jarrett and others before announcing she would be leaving Twitter. Since ABC canceled the revival series, reruns of the show have been pulled from TVLand, CMT and Paramount Network. Hulu also yanked all season 10 episodes from its streaming library.

Barr has remained silent since the cancellation was announced and was also dripped by ICM Partners.

Roseanne co-starsSara Gilbert and Michael Fishman have renounced the tweet, with Fishman sharing a heartbreaking message following the news of the cancellation.

“Today is one of the hardest in my life,” Fishman wrote. “I feel devastated, not for the end of the Roseanne show, but for all those who poured their hearts and souls into our jobs, and the audience welcomes us into their homes. Our cast, crew, writers and production staff strived for inclusiveness.”

In Speechless, Driver plays Maya DiMeo, a well-meaning but often overzealous mother of a family of hilarious and ill-mannered misfits. The great success of the show, however, is how brilliantly it normalizes a family affected by cerebral palsy (the oldest son, JJ).

The series is set to return for a third season in fall 2018.