ABC/Rick Rowell(LOS ANGELES) — black-ish creator Kenya Barris has revealed that he was prepared to quit his job at ABC after Roseanne Barr sent out a controversial tweet that compared former Obama administration adviser Valerie Jarrett to a character in Planet of the Apes.
At Variety‘s Path to Parity summit panel — which focused on women in the entertainment industry– Barris said he was outraged by Barr’s tasteless comment and ready to protest the network.
“I was literally coming out of the show and I was like f*** this. I was going to go crazy. I was going to call my agent and go on [CNN’s] Don Lemon and other shows,” Barris said.
However, before he officially handed in his resignation, Barris said he called ABC Entertainment president Channing Dungey, and other ABC execs to warn them of his decision.
“I was like, ‘I’m sorry guys’ and then I have to say, the response came in minutes,” he said.
According to Barris, Dungey asked him to hold off from the protest since they were in the process of canceling the show.
“It was amazing,” Barris told the audience. “Having Channing at the head and having [Disney CEO] Bob [Iger] be supportive” was significant.
Barris said although ABC and Disney brass made the right and swift decision to cancel Barr’s sitcom, he still questions why the network even decided to give Barr a platform, considering her past controversial comments on social media.
“[It was] an indefensible moment but at the same time, you hired a monster and then you asked why the monster was killing villagers,” he added.
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