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Few Cancel Culture victims can compete with Roseanne Barr.
The legendary stand-up comedienne and creator of ABC’s “Roseanne” watched her career vanish in the blink of a tweet. Yet actor Ezra Miller, whose rap sheet suggests a deep-seated animosity toward women, appears on the road to professional recovery without a career hiccup.
It’s the most cartoonish example that cancel culture isn’t about holding people accountable. It’s about power, politics and the raging culture wars.
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Barr’s career got a turboboost in 2018 when ABC brought back her signature sitcom. The reboot’s ratings shocked Hollywood, making it the year’s most watched broadcast show. So did the show’s willingness to engage with Donald Trump’s America, just months after the 2016 election.
The second act of “Roseanne” with an episode titled “No Country for Old Women.” This was before she was canceled. (© 2017 American Broadcasting Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.)
Barr, who infamously ran for president on the Green Party ticket in 2012, embraced the blustery Trump during the 2016 election cycle. She brought that spirit to “Roseanne 2.0,” giving MAGA nation a rare voice in pop culture.
And then Barr fired off the Tweet of all Tweets, an ugly, racially charged slam against former Obama White House senior advisor Valerie Jarrett, who is Black. Barr said Jarrett looked as if “the muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby.”
The reaction was swift and severe.
The star apologized for the comment, claiming she didn’t realize Jarrett was Black and that she had been taking Ambien at the time of the tweet. ABC fired her despite the mea culpa.
“Roseanne” was no more, replaced by “The Connors,” a re-imagined sitcom that killed off Barr’s character.
Did it matter that Barr lacked a history of racially charged antics? Or that Norm Macdonald, who worked with Barr during the original “Roseanne” run, recalled to The Hollywood Reporter how she tried to lure more minority talent to the show?
“On the original show, she had [a network sitcom’s] first gay couple. She would always want more minorities on the show, on the writing staff. When she did this [reboot,] it was all her idea to get all these different orientations and religions and so forth represented. … She is certainly not a racist. That’s crazy.”
No matter. Barr’s career effectively ended.
Ezra Miller continues his role as ‘Flash’ despite a long list of reported incidents. (Warner Bros.)
She briefly teamed with fellow comic provocateur Andrew “Dice” Clay in 2019, but otherwise stayed out of the limelight.
February 13, Barr attempts a comeback courtesy of Fox Nation. The streaming platform debuts her new stand-up special, “Cancel This!” February 13. It remains to be seen if Barr is welcomed back by Hollywood, Inc., or if she’ll continue to exist on the periphery of show business.
Cancel culture isn’t a forgiving ethos.
Yet Miller, famous for roles in “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” and “Justice League,” may duck cancel culture entirely.
The actor, who embraces a non-binary identity and uses they/them pronouns, got the gig of a lifetime via “The Flash” solo feature. The film, delayed by the pandemic but due for a summer release, ran into a tidal wave of news tied to the star’s off-screen behavior.
The trouble began in 2020. Miller was accused of choking a woman at an Iceland bar, the disturbing moment caught on video. Two years later, Miller got charged with disorderly conduct and harassment after a scuffle in a Hawaiian Karaoke bar.
That same month, a couple filed for a restraining order against the actor after he allegedly entered their bedroom and threatened their lives. The star also allegedly stole items from their home.
Weeks later, Miller reportedly threw a chair at a woman at a private gathering in Hawaii, opening a half-inch wound on her forehead.
“On the original show, she had [a network sitcom’s] first gay couple. She would always want more minorities on the show, on the writing staff. When she did this [reboot,] it was all her idea to get all these different orientations and religions and so forth represented. … She is certainly not a racist. That’s crazy.” – Norm Macdonald
The “Flash” also allegedly broke into a Vermont home May 1 and was charged with felony burglary. (Miller later plead guilty on a lesser charge).
The most disturbing allegations occurred last June. A Native American couple said Miller was sexually grooming their teen daughter, Tokata Iron Eyes, a process that began when the girl was 12 years old.
That same month another parent said Miller had “menaced their family one evening in their downstairs neighbor’s home and acted inappropriately” toward their child, according to the Daily Beast.
Miller reportedly sought treatment for mental health issues.
Andrew Dice Clay and Roseanne Barr performed on stage together in 2019. (Instagram)
Hollywood insiders wondered if Miller’s “Flash” might be delayed or even canceled due to the crush of sobering accounts. If an icon like Barr could be decimated by a single, cruel tweet, likely costing ABC millions in profits due to the reboot’s ratings success, a superhero film might suffer a similar fate.
Instead, we learned late last year that Miller and “The Flash” will hit theaters June 16. And DC co-head Peter Safran suggested Miller is part of the comic universe’s future.
“Ezra is completely committed to their recovery. And we are fully supportive of that journey that they’re on right now.”
Other Warner Bros. executives are similarly open to Miller continuing as The Flash.
Why the dramatically different reactions to Barr and Miller?
Could it be because Barr embraced Trump at the time of her banishment and Miller is a member of the LGBTQ+ community. Is there another explanation?
Other examples suggest that double standard. Country superstar Morgan Wallen, a straight white male, saw his career collapse after video of him uttering the “N-word,” but not aimed at a person of color, emerged last year. He lost his record label, stations across the country kicked his music to the curb and he became persona non grata on the awards circuit.
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What’s worse? A single epithet uttered during a private moment, or alleged Miller’s reign of terror?
Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden is another great example of how celebrities survive misbehavior without getting canceled – as long as they are liberal. (Democratic National Convention/Sipa USA | Berges gallery)
Need another example?
Hunter Biden, the son of a Democratic president, repeatedly used the “N-word” in texts. “How much money do I owe you, because [N-word] you better not be charging me Hennessy rates,” Hunter said in one exchange.
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Yet cancel culture looked the other way as the First Son published his memoir, “Beautiful Things,” in 2021 and sold his paintings for significant fees.
On paper, cancel culture tries to right historical wrongs and give under-represented groups a chance at the American dream. In reality, it’s too often a cudgel wielded against anyone who isn’t an ally of some kind to the progressive left.
Christian Toto is the host of the Hollywood in Toto Podcast. He’s an award-winning film critic, journalist and author of “Virtue Bombs: How Hollywood Got Woke and Lost His Soul.” His website, HollywoodInToto.com, covers entertainment from a right-of-center perspective.
