Big Bang Theory star Jim Parsons’ hilarious response to Roseanne cancellation

WITH Roseanne pulled from the airwaves amid a racism scandal, fellow sitcom stars including Jim Parsons and Zach Braff are taking a moment to gloat.

BIG Bang Theory star Jim Parsons is among the high-profile names responding to the dramatic cancellation of the rebooted Roseanne sitcom.

The top-rating reboot has been pulled from the air after its star and creator, Roseanne Barr, issued a tweet likening an African-American former senior adviser to Barack Obama to an ape.

Parsons, who plays Sheldon in the immensely popular sitcom The Big Bang Theory, responded to the mounting scandal with a tongue-in-cheek post to his 6.2 million Instagram followers today.

The post featured a photo of Roseanne supporting actor Laurie Metcalf, who played Roseanne’s sister Jackie in the series, in this mocked-up poster for a Roseanne reboot centred on her character:

Parsons isn’t the only TV comedy star finding laughs in the situation. Zach Braff, whose hospital-based comedy Scrubs was cancelled in 2010 after nine seasons, posted this:

When your show got canceled, but you’re not racist. pic.twitter.com/Do2n37Akij

— Zach Braff (@zachbraff) May 29, 2018

And careful what you wish for, because former Two and A Half Men star Charlie Sheen has suggested the show’s axing now leaves the door open for a reboot of his defunct sitcom:

adios
Roseanne!

good
riddance.

hashtag
NOT Winning.

the
runway is
now clear
for
OUR reboot.

©#CharlieHarperReturns pic.twitter.com/HcqMvIoxCM

— Charlie Sheen (@charliesheen) May 29, 2018

Minnie Driver also took the opportunity to praise the ABC’s decision and promote her more “inclusive” sitcom, Speechless:

So proud of @ABCNetwork for having the ethical compunction to cancel #Rosanne despite the show’s huge numbers. We too make a show about a middle class family , come and watch us instead #speechless @Speechless_ABC ✨

— Minnie Driver (@driverminnie) May 29, 2018

Breaking Bad star Bryan Cranston said the network had shown “courage” in firing “an open racist and anti-Semite, and that he would like see similar behaviour from America’s elected officials.

This morning @RobertIger quickly and easily determined that righteousness trumps profits by firing an open racist and anti-Semite from his company. If our elected officials had the courage to do the same by declaring that country trumps partisanship we’d have a healthier society.

— Bryan Cranston (@BryanCranston) May 29, 2018

Activist and movie star Patricia Arquette didn’t hold back, saying she was “repulsed” and “sickened”.

I am repulsed that Valerie Jarret had that racist and bigoted "joke" made at her expense and I am sickened that any Black or Muslim person has to keep hearing this sickness in 2018.

— Patricia Arquette (@PattyArquette) May 29, 2018

Reaction to Barr’s racist tweet has been swift, with a statement by TV network ABC Entertainment slamming the comedian’s comments.

“Roseanne’s Twitter statement is abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values, and we have decided to cancel her show,” ABC president Channing Dungey said in a statement.

Australian networks Channel Ten and Eleven have cut the show as well.

“Network Ten is appalled and disgusted with Ms Barr’s racist tweet and has removed Roseanne from Ten and Eleven, effective immediately,” a statement from the network read.

The axe fell on Roseanne despite the reboot of the sitcom being the highest rated show in the US this season. Re-runs of the original have also been axed.

The scandal is the latest in a long line of controversies for Roseanne, who in 2013 referred to an African-American woman as an “ape” on her Twitter account and in 2009 posed for an infamous magazine photo shoot as dressed Hitle r, putting human-shaped biscuits into an oven.