MAGA Is Trying to Rewrite the History of Roseanne Barr Following Jimmy Kimmel Suspension

According to many right-wing comedy fans, the FCC chairman publicly implying that he would revoke ABC’s broadcasting license unless they punish Jimmy Kimmel Live! is retribution for how President Barack Obama forced Roseanne Barr off of television — in 2018.

Yesterday afternoon, ABC indefinitely suspended Jimmy Kimmel Live! after the host castigated the right-wing political and media machine over its response to the murder of Charlie Kirk. On Monday night, Kimmel pushed back on the prevailing conservative narrative concerning the motivations of the alleged shooter, Tyler Robinson, saying that the GOP is “desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them, and doing everything they can to score political points from it.” 

Then, on Wednesday, FCC chairman Brendan Carr appeared on a right-wing podcast and made ominous threats toward ABC regarding Kimmel’s remarks, leading to an immediate and controversial decision to take the longtime late-night host off the air indefinitely. 

To many media members, legal experts, comedians, community leaders and average TV viewers, Carr’s public intimidation tactics are an all-out assault on the First Amendment. However, to Barr and her supporters, the federal government cancelling Kimmel is payback for how a previous Democratic administration allegedly pressured ABC to fire Barr from the Roseanne reboot after she tweeted out racist insults directed toward Obama advisor Valerie Jarrett.

There’s just one small problem: Trump was President when Barr blew up her own career.

For years, Barr has maintained that the only reason why she lost her job — other than the fact that she said a prominent biracial woman looked like a cross between “muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes” — was that Barack and Michelle Obama personally requested that Disney CEO Bob Iger remove Barr from Roseanne. 

Of course, there is no actual, tangible, verifiable evidence that the Obamas had anything to do with ABC’s decision to oust Barr amidst massive public outcry, but, even if the former President and First Lady did call in a favor from Iger, that’s still not remotely comparable to the sitting chair of the FCC publicly telling one of the largest and most influential media companies in the world to “take action” on the opinions expressed by one of their employees, warning them, “We can do this the easy way or the hard way.” 

What happened last night is so far beyond “cancel culture” that it’s hard to fathom in a society that’s supposed to be built upon the bedrock of free speech. The federal government itself is openly threatening their critics and pulling them off the airwaves over comments that are far more innocuous than the average Barr tweet.

Plus, it’s telling for the state of Barr’s long-deceased career that, for all the undue pressure that President Trump continues to exert on the American media, not once has he bothered to get her back on TV, despite all her bootlicking.