Fox News’ Shepard Smith in Scathing Monologue: ‘Racism Is Not Funny and Roseanne Barr Is a Racist’

“Racism is not funny and Roseanne Barr is a racist.”

That was how Fox News’ Shepard Smith opened this afternoon in reporting the news of ABC canceling Roseanne after her racist tweet about former Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett.

Smith noted how the show revival was embraced by many on the right as a more sympathetic portrayal of Trump supporters on TV (which includes some of Smith’s own Fox News colleagues, though he didn’t get that specific), including President Trump.

Not only did Trump call Barr to congratulate her on her big debut ratings, but he gave her a positive shoutout during a speech on infrastructure.

“Huge ratings,” Smith said. “but racism killed it… No amount of viewers or tweeting could have saved Roseanne from her racist ways. At least, not this time.”

Barr’s tweet was condemned today by ABC and Disney CEO Bob Iger, as well as co-star Sara Gilbert and comedian Wanda Sykes, who was a consulting producer on the show before announcing earlier she was leaving the show.

Smith also noted that this couldn’t have possibly been a surprise to ABC, given her past “history of stirring controversy.” Throughout the segment, he brought up conspiratorial views of hers and comments she made well before Disney made the decision to bring her back into the fold.

It was only weeks ago that ABC was talking about the success of the new Roseanne at the network’s upfront presentation. Variety wrote at the time that one of the biggest takeaways was “Roseanne Barr is the face of ABC” (albeit an “imperfect” one). But the Variety report also noted, “Hitching the ABC brand to a star who mongers debunked conspiracy theories remains a risky proposition.”

Watch above, via Fox News.

[image via screengrab]

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Follow Josh Feldman on Twitter: @feldmaniac

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