Roseanne Barr, the actress and comedian who was booted from her show on ABC, “Roseanne,” after she was canceled for posting tweets about, among other things, former Obama advisor Valerie Jarrett, is back. She’s returning to entertainment with a show backed by anti-woke company Public Square that will premier on Elon’s “X.”
The New York Post’s “On The Money,” reporting on the new show and the deal inked to produce it, says that Barr signed a “six-figure deal” for the show with “Publicsq, an online marketplace that counts Donald Trump Jr. as an advisor and investor and bills itself as Amazon for conservatives.”
Continuing, the “On The Money” report noted that it is not yet clear what the show will be, with anything from a long monologue to a sketch comedy being possible, saying, “It could involve a written monologue or sketch comedy, be at least a half hour long and air monthly, sources said.”
Barr, speaking to “On The Money” about the show and why they chose X to host it on rather than a different platform, said, “We’re followers of Elon and it’s pretty evident to us that whatever we want goes. It’s a great way for people to fight back against totalitarianism.”
So, supporting X not only helps them “fight back against totalitarianism,” but also gives Roseanne and her team the freedom to say more or less whatever they please during the show. That stands in stark contrast to other platforms, such as YouTube, where self-censorship is almost required if one doesn’t want to be booted from the platform.
“On The Money” reports that the decision to put the show on Twitter came out of YouTube’s decision to boot an episode of Theo Von’s show because Barr made a joke about the Holocaust in it. Elon, responding to that censorship, said, “Comedy is legal on this platform!”
Comedy is legal on this platform! https://t.co/G1ZslWmxBK
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 2, 2023
Public Square CEO Michael Seifert defended the decision to partner with Roseanne, with “On The Money” reporting that he said, “PublicSq proudly stands for free speech and against the cancellation of dissenting voices. We are beyond excited to partner with Roseanne Barr on her new monthly special. PublicSq will continue to honor America’s free speech values that so many corporate behemoths ignore.”
Similarly, Roseanne’s son Jake Pentland told On The Money that Elon’s defense of free speech is critical, saying, “Elon’s push since he bought Twitter is all about free speech — he stands by comedy, which is a crucial part of the First Amendment.” He added that Roseanne’s new show will be “funnier than programs on other platforms” since Elon’s X is “the only platform that allows free speech.”
Roseanne posted about the new show in a video released on X, saying, “I couldn’t be more excited to start a show right here on X! @elonmusk has said that “Comedy is legal” on his site. We will certainly be taking advantage of that! Thank you to@officialpsq for standing up for the first amendment! 🇺🇸”
I couldn’t be more excited to start a show right here on X!@elonmusk has said that “Comedy is legal” on his site. We will certainly be taking advantage of that!
Thank you to @officialpsq for standing up for the first amendment! 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/Zpsrj1sPLh
— Roseanne Barr (@therealroseanne) August 4, 2023
Public Square, for its part, said, “We at PublicSq. are proud to support creators that stand for free speech! 🇺🇸”
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded videos
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