Washington, DC – The following is a reaction from Scott Simpson, public advocacy director at Muslim Advocates, regarding ABC’s decision to cancel Roseanne. This decision follows a series of racist Tweets sent by Roseanne Barr this week.

This is the right decision, and it calls into question why ABC would have given Roseanne a platform to begin with.

Roseanne has a clear and public track record of bigotry against Muslims, the LGBTQ community, and others. When ABC’s executives hired her, they knew exactly who they were bringing on to their network and choosing to associate with.

While we are relieved by this decision and think it sends a strong message against bigotry, ABC’s main mistake was elevating and validating her bigotry in the first place.  

Muslim Advocates is a national legal advocacy and educational organization that works on the frontlines of civil rights to guarantee freedom and justice for Americans of all faiths.

 

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