‘Black-ish’ creator Kenya Barris calls Roseanne a ‘monster’
ABC’s ‘Black-ish’ creator Kenya Barris calls Roseanne a ‘monster’ and speaks about his decision to leave ABC.
“Black-ish” creator Kenya Barris did not mince words when he shared his thoughts on Roseanne Barr and his decision to leave ABC.
In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, published Wednesday, Barris said he was planning to speak to ABC executives about his issues with the “Roseanne” reboot before the series was canceled. Barris’ “Black-ish” was aired after “Roseanne” at the time, which gave the show a ratings boost.
"F--- Roseanne," Barris, 44, said. "She's a f---ing monster. And they were like, 'Why is this monster killing villagers?' And I was like, 'Because that's what a monster does.'"
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Barris announced in August he left his four-year contract with ABC to join Netflix for a reported $100 million deal. The showrunner opened up about his exit, saying the network’s decision to pull the “Black-ish” episode, “Please, Baby, Please” — which was said to criticize President Trump on the NFL kneeling controversy and Charlottesville protests — was the final straw.
"There's this P.C. culture that's been created where people feel like not talking about things makes it better," Barris said. "But I think it makes it worse and that's why I wanted to talk about the last year."
The episode was cut just days before it was scheduled to air on Feb. 27. Prior to the decision to pull it, Barris and executives went back-and-forth on edits for the episode.
"What it ended up being, and I think the network would agree, was not a true representation of what we intended to do," the showrunner said. "Because if it was, we would've shown it."
Barris said after the incident, he began talking about his exit. He added that the limitations of network TV also contributed to his decision.
"I don't know that I would have been as useful to them as they'd need me to be after that," Barris said.
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