Inside Roseanne Barr's history of offensive tweets

Let’s be clear: Roseanne Barr’s fiery online presence is nothing new.

The comedian has been delighting fans (and those who make up what some term the darkest corner of the Internet) for years, peddling far-right conspiracy theories, racially charged rhetoric and enthusiastic praise for many of President Trump’s most contentious policies.

But on Tuesday, the blatantly racist overtones of Barr’s tweet targeting Obama White House adviser Valerie Jarrett were undeniable. Undeniable by people she worked with, including consulting producer Wanda Sykes, who promptly quit the show. Undeniable by ABC, which canceled Roseanne, the network’s No. 1 show, hours after the Jarrett tweet began to trend. Undeniable by her agents at ICM Partners, who fired her shortly after ABC did.

And undeniable by Barr herself, who issued an apology before leaving Twitter. Again.

Barr has a pattern of tweeting, enraging and then leaving the building. Indeed, it’s part of her appeal: With fans championing her right to free speech, Barr’s conservative ideology has long won her a wide swath of support, including praise from Trump.

But few can claim to be shocked by her propensity to traffic in racially tinged rhetoric and conspiracies.

Take a look at her history: In march, the comedian falsely accused a Parkland, Fla., school shooting survivor of performing a Nazi salute at a March for Our Lives rally. (She later deleted it, saying she’d viewed a doctored image.)

More: ABC cancels ‘Roseanne’ hours after Barr’s racist tweet targeting Obama adviser

She’s tweeted links to videos pushing the “Pizzagate” right-wing conspiracy theory that Hillary Clinton and her former campaign chair, John Podesta, were using a Washington pizzeria as a base for a child trafficking ring. (A theory tirelessly debunked.)

She also pushed a “cover up” theory about the death of former Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich in what police say was a robbery attempt. Rich’s parents have since filed a lawsuit against Fox News, which repeatedly reported the theory, for emotional distress.

In December, prior to Roseanne‘s return, the actress publicly declared she was quitting social media after engaging in a fiery debate about Trump.

At the time, Barr tweeted that Trump would “shake up” the status quo and that Clinton and Obama, although not identified by name, had “killed more innocent people than anyone else in U.S. history.”

More: Roseanne Barr threatens to retire in huff over Twitter feuding with liberals

She referred to her Twitter foes as “fascists” and suggested she was being threatened by Clinton supporters.

In response to the blowback, Barr tweeted a parting shot: “i won’t be censored or silence chided or corrected and continue to work. I retire right now. I’ve had enough. bye!”

She told USA TODAY she didn’t want to hurt her iconic show’s return to television in March. “I had to get off there because everybody was mad at me. I’m not doing any more politics. I don’t want to get anyone mad at me. I’ll try to find another way to say what is important for me,” Barr said. But with issues like the gun debate rising this spring, it proved to be a short-lived hiatus.

So why was Tuesday’s tweet any different? (Just last week, Barr pledged a new social media strategy, telling Adweek she was “going to just try to talk about what I’m for, rather than what I’m against.”)

In the same 12-hour window, Barr lit a match by tweeting against Chelsea Clinton, terming her “Chelsea Soros Clinton,” fanning the flames on a rumor that the former first daughter is married to a nephew of Hungarian-American billionaire George Soros, a prominent Democratic donor. (She is not.)

But curiously, it’s what set off the whole Jarrett debacle. Clinton responded to Barr with a tongue-in-cheek correction of the facts. “Good morning Roseanne – my given middle name is Victoria. I imagine George Soros’s nephews are lovely people. I’m just not married to one. I am grateful for the important work @OpenSociety does in the world. Have a great day!” (Open Society Foundations is a grant-making network founded by Soros.)

But Barr hit back with a tweet with a faux apology. “Sorry to have tweeted incorrect info about you!” she wrote. “Please forgive me! By the way, George Soros is a nazi who turned in his fellow Jews 2 be murdered in German concentration camps & stole their wealth-were you aware of that? But, we all make mistakes, right Chelsea?”

Soros is not a Nazi. He’s a Jew who survived the Nazi occupation during World War II and has since committed about $32 billion of his fortune to human rights work around the world.

But conspiracy theories about the billionaire abound. And Barr went on, saying Soros aims to “overthrow (the) us constitutional republic by buying/backing candidates 4 local district attorney races who will ignore US law & favor ‘feelings’ instead-and call everyone who is alarmed by that ‘racist’.”

That’s when a Twitter user jumped in, saying Valerie “Jarrett helped hide a lot” while Obama was in office.

Barr replied with the tweet that would end her resurrected network career: “muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby = vj.”

Though Barr later apologized for targeting Jarrett’s “looks,” it was too late. The racial implications were bare for the world — including Roseanne‘s advertisers, who are currently negotiating their fall ad buys — to see.

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