Roseanne Barr calls out ABC's 'double standard' in allowing Jimmy Kimmel to return after she was permanently cancelled

By 
 September 24, 2025

Late-night TV host Jimmy Kimmel was suspended last week by ABC and Disney over his "insensitive" remarks about the assassination of Charlie Kirk, but was allowed to resume his poorly rated show on Tuesday.

Comedic actress Roseanne Barr, who ABC permanently canceled over a controversial tweet in 2018, is now crying foul over the evident "double standard," according to the New York Post's Page Six.

The glaring difference here is that the reliably liberal Kimmel attacked right-wing Trump-supporting Americans with his suspension-worthy remarks, while the staunchly pro-MAGA Barr had insulted a revered former senior aide to former President Barack Obama to earn her cancellation.

Obvious "double standard"

"I got my whole life ruined, no forgiveness, and all of my work stolen and called a racist for time and eternity, for racially misgendering someone," Barr said during an interview with NewsNation. "It just shows how they think. It’s a double standard."

In 2018, ABC abruptly fired Barr and cancelled her popular and highly-rated "Roseanne" reboot after she tweeted out that the Iran-born former Obama aide Valerie Jarrett was a product of the "Muslim Brotherhood" and the "Planet of the Apes."

Notably, Barr swiftly apologized for the controversial tweet at the time, to no avail, but she predicted that low-ratings Kimmel, who offered no such apology following his recent suspension, would "double down" on and be rewarded by the network for his anti-Trump and anti-MAGA stances.

"I think he’ll cheer himself on and his fans, all what is it, 2,000 of them. They’ll feel heartened and, you know, like they won another battle against Trump and the people of the United States," she said. "So it’ll be a big celebration. 'Oh, he’s back,' and he’ll double down."

Barr was cancelled beyond just her show

Nor is Kimmel the only example of ABC's double standards in this regard, as Barr also noted in the NewsNation interview that while her cancellation was permanent, the network previously allowed liberal co-hosts Whoopi Goldberg and Joy Behar to return to "The View" after their own separate suspensions for making controversial remarks.

She asserted that, based on ideology, ABC will always protect "their lowest rated shows for their shareholders and destroy their highest rated shows for their shareholders."

Barr also pointed out that her cancellation went beyond just ABC and extended more broadly into society, as she said, "I’ve been erased from history, from the history of feminism, which that cracks me up. I’m never mentioned in anything about women who are pioneers in media. I’m never mentioned in anything anymore."

Unfortunately, that also applies to some of her former friends and co-stars who only became famous because of their prior work with Barr, who now no longer even acknowledge her, "especially when they talk about censorship, which, that cracks me up."

Kimmel offers an explanation but no apology

As for Kimmel's return on Tuesday, Fox News reported that Barr's prediction was at least partially correct, in that the late-night host still has not specifically apologized for the remarks that got him suspended.

Instead, he provided a sort of explanation for his intent behind the false and objectionable commentary, offered up some kind words to Kirk's family, and then went right back to bashing President Donald Trump and his MAGA supporters.

Unfortunately for Kimmel, far fewer Americans witnessed his return to the air than may have watched him before, as both Sinclair and Nexstar, two companies that own dozens of local ABC affiliates across the nation, have refused to air Kimmel's program until he apologizes.

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