米兰体育

Skip to content
NOWCAST 米兰体育 13 Morning News
Watch on Demand
Advertisement

Hundreds jobless after Roseanne Barr鈥檚 'abhorrent' tweet prompts cancellation of show

Hundreds jobless after Roseanne Barr鈥檚 'abhorrent' tweet prompts cancellation of show
Advertisement
Hundreds jobless after Roseanne Barr鈥檚 'abhorrent' tweet prompts cancellation of show
The unprecedented sudden cancellation of one of television鈥檚 top comedies has left a wave of unemployment and uncertainty in its wake.Roseanne Barr鈥檚 racist tweet and the swift axing of her rebooted show put hundreds of people out of work, with some wondering whether they would be paid, most knowing they wouldn鈥檛 be, and few with any legal recourse.鈥淎 lot of people there are just middle class Americans making a living and now they鈥檙e out of work, especially at a time when we鈥檙e ramping up into production for the fall season,鈥� Rebecca Sun of the industry trade publication The Hollywood Reporter said in an interview with The Associated Press. 鈥淚t is pretty devastating for all of the people who worked on that show who are now collateral damage as a result of their star鈥檚 racist beliefs.鈥滳ontractual details for those involved with the show, including Barr, were not immediately clear, and will play out in the coming months.Experts say high-profile figures in the television industry typically have contractual clauses that give them significant severance for shows that are not produced.Lower-level workers are generally out of luck at an unfortunate time. Though 鈥淩oseanne鈥� and many shows just had their season finales, jobs for next season are mostly taken.Ben Sherwood, president of Disney-ABC Television Group, apologized in a memo Wednesday to 鈥渢he many men and women who poured their hearts and lives into the show and were just getting started on next season. We鈥檙e so sorry they were swept up in all of this and we give thanks for their remarkable talents, wish them well, and hope to find another way to work together down the road.鈥漈he cancellation came on the first day of meetings for the newly assembled writers for the fall season of 鈥淩oseanne.鈥� They arrived after Barr鈥檚 tweet, but before ABC President Channing Dungey鈥檚 announcement that the show was finished, leading to what executive producer and writer Dave Caplan said were 鈥渁 lot of bittersweet hellos 鈥� and a couple hours later, a lot of very difficult goodbyes.鈥濃淓verybody is still in shock at how quickly this all went down,鈥� Caplan told The Hollywood Reporter on Wednesday. 鈥淚t鈥檚 unfortunate because the writers did pass on other jobs to take this job and nobody really knows yet what kind of compensation they鈥檙e going to get.鈥滷or cast and crew members that did have longer-term contracts, Barr鈥檚 show-sinking tweet could be deemed, strange as it sounds, an 鈥渁ct of God.鈥� A 鈥渇orce majeure鈥� or 鈥渁ct of God,鈥� legally, is some unpredictable event such as an earthquake or a riot that changes the underlying circumstances.鈥淚t means something outside of the control of the parties. Roseanne鈥檚 speech wasn鈥檛 in the control of ABC,鈥� said F. Jay Dougherty, a professor who specializes in entertainment and media law at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. 鈥淚t wouldn鈥檛 surprise me if this was treated by the studio like that kind of event, giving the studio a right to terminate contracts.鈥滲arr herself suggested on Twitter lately that she may try to take some action.鈥淵ou guys make me feel like fighting back,鈥� Barr tweeted to her followers Wednesday. 鈥淚 will examine all of my options carefully and get back to U.鈥滺er contract may have a 鈥渕orals clause,鈥� however, which are often included in the contracts of television stars, athletes and other prominent figures, demanding a standard of behavior as the face of an enterprise.鈥淚f there is a morals clause in her contract, then breaching that would give the studio a right to terminate her contract, and possibly even sue her for damages for breach of contract,鈥濃淲e can鈥檛 predict whether there will be lawsuits or not,鈥� Dougherty said, 鈥渂ut I don鈥檛 think there will be successful lawsuits.鈥�

The unprecedented sudden cancellation of one of television鈥檚 top comedies has left a wave of unemployment and uncertainty in its wake.

Roseanne Barr鈥檚 racist tweet and the swift axing of her rebooted show put hundreds of people out of work, with some wondering whether they would be paid, most knowing they wouldn鈥檛 be, and few with any legal recourse.

Advertisement

Related Content

鈥淎 lot of people there are just middle class Americans making a living and now they鈥檙e out of work, especially at a time when we鈥檙e ramping up into production for the fall season,鈥� Rebecca Sun of the industry trade publication The Hollywood Reporter said in an interview with The Associated Press. 鈥淚t is pretty devastating for all of the people who worked on that show who are now collateral damage as a result of their star鈥檚 racist beliefs.鈥�

Contractual details for those involved with the show, including Barr, were not immediately clear, and will play out in the coming months.

Experts say high-profile figures in the television industry typically have contractual clauses that give them significant severance for shows that are not produced.

Lower-level workers are generally out of luck at an unfortunate time. Though 鈥淩oseanne鈥� and many shows just had their season finales, jobs for next season are mostly taken.

Ben Sherwood, president of Disney-ABC Television Group, apologized in a memo Wednesday to 鈥渢he many men and women who poured their hearts and lives into the show and were just getting started on next season. We鈥檙e so sorry they were swept up in all of this and we give thanks for their remarkable talents, wish them well, and hope to find another way to work together down the road.鈥�

The cancellation came on the first day of meetings for the newly assembled writers for the fall season of 鈥淩oseanne.鈥� They arrived after Barr鈥檚 tweet, but before ABC President Channing Dungey鈥檚 announcement that the show was finished, leading to what executive producer and writer Dave Caplan said were 鈥渁 lot of bittersweet hellos 鈥� and a couple hours later, a lot of very difficult goodbyes.鈥�

鈥淓verybody is still in shock at how quickly this all went down,鈥� Caplan told The Hollywood Reporter on Wednesday. 鈥淚t鈥檚 unfortunate because the writers did pass on other jobs to take this job and nobody really knows yet what kind of compensation they鈥檙e going to get.鈥�

For cast and crew members that did have longer-term contracts, Barr鈥檚 show-sinking tweet could be deemed, strange as it sounds, an 鈥渁ct of God.鈥� A 鈥渇orce majeure鈥� or 鈥渁ct of God,鈥� legally, is some unpredictable event such as an earthquake or a riot that changes the underlying circumstances.

鈥淚t means something outside of the control of the parties. Roseanne鈥檚 speech wasn鈥檛 in the control of ABC,鈥� said F. Jay Dougherty, a professor who specializes in entertainment and media law at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. 鈥淚t wouldn鈥檛 surprise me if this was treated by the studio like that kind of event, giving the studio a right to terminate contracts.鈥�

Barr herself suggested on Twitter lately that she may try to take some action.

鈥淵ou guys make me feel like fighting back,鈥� Barr tweeted to her followers Wednesday. 鈥淚 will examine all of my options carefully and get back to U.鈥�

Her contract may have a 鈥渕orals clause,鈥� however, which are often included in the contracts of television stars, athletes and other prominent figures, demanding a standard of behavior as the face of an enterprise.

鈥淚f there is a morals clause in her contract, then breaching that would give the studio a right to terminate her contract, and possibly even sue her for damages for breach of contract,鈥�

鈥淲e can鈥檛 predict whether there will be lawsuits or not,鈥� Dougherty said, 鈥渂ut I don鈥檛 think there will be successful lawsuits.鈥�