Roseanne Gets Brutal Wakeup Call From Tweeters Re Her Ambien Defence

almost 6 years in Huffpost

Users on Twitter mocked comedian Roseanne Barr after she appeared to blame a combination of the sleep medication Ambien and Memorial Day, the U.S. holiday honouring military personnel killed in the line of duty, for the racist tweet that prompted network ABC to cancel her show.
Barr wrote:

guys I did something unforgiveable so do not defend me. It was 2 in the morning and I was ambien tweeting-it was memorial day too-i went 2 far & do not want it defended-it was egregious Indefensible. I made a mistake I wish I hadn't but...don't defend it please. ty
— Roseanne Barr (@therealroseanne) May 30, 2018

She later added:

I think Joe Rogan is right about ambien. Not giving excuses for what I did(tweeted) but I've done weird stuff while on ambien-cracked eggs on the wall at 2am etc -
— Roseanne Barr (@therealroseanne) May 30, 2018

Earlier on Tuesday, Barr tweeted and then deleted: "Muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby=vj," with the initials referring to Valerie Jarrett, a former aide to president Barack Obama.
ABC promptly cancelled the reboot of "Roseanne", the show's reruns were pulled from Hulu, and she was dropped by her talent agency.
Barr's post-cancellation tweets caused Ambien to trend on Twitter overnight, with many people who've taken the drug sharing their own experiences:

While on Ambien I've made sandwiches, initiated sex with my husband, and called a friend to read her poetry at 3am, and didn't remember doing any of it,but I wasn't a racist asshole.
— Noel (@Frogerta) May 30, 2018

I've taken Ambien and all I did was eat a quesadilla cooked inside another quesadilla.
— Elizabeth Hackett (@LizHackett) May 30, 2018

Ma'am, Ambien will make me eat lunch meat out of the fridge and drink the nasty juice from the container like it is some ambrosia charcuterie spread from the gods, but it will not turn me into some one-man community theatre production of The Accidental Racist. pic.twitter.com/VxvJMQ8Bhg
— Emerson Collins (@ActuallyEmerson) May 30, 2018

If Roseanne's excuse is true, those tiki-torch-wielding Charlotte marchers must have all been tripping balls on Ambien.
— Rex Huppke (@RexHuppke) May 30, 2018

Just how long have you been taking Ambien? pic.twitter.com/DYjI5BmprG
— KneelBeforeHat (@Popehat) May 30, 2018

seems like the rest of us friggin nailed our post-memorial day ambien hangovers
— Aparna Nancherla (@aparnapkin) May 30, 2018

Does ambien unlock latent racism? https://t.co/sYnuBBhTui
— Jeff J. (@JeffJSays) May 30, 2018

I don't see "Racism" on the list pic.twitter.com/DCTUGhrJmQ
— Another Mother Jones (@LnghrnFaninPhx) May 30, 2018

Ambien should sue Roseanne for claiming that their product causes overt racism. I've seen their commercials. They don't mention that as a side effect.
— Scott Weinberg (@scottEweinberg) May 30, 2018

not sure if Ambien makes you tweet racist stuff but I can confirm pairing Makers Mark with Hot Pockets at 1AM will make you 'like' all of your high school crush's Facebook photos
— Matt Oswalt (@MattOswaltVA) May 30, 2018

This whole time the red pill was just Ambien pic.twitter.com/4r9a58eKd8
— Jess Dweck (@TheDweck) May 30, 2018

Motherfucker, I took Ambien to go to bed on Memorial Day and the most controversial thing I said was "YOUR KINDLE IS TOO BRIGHT." https://t.co/YzlL9Odoog
— Bess Kalb (@bessbell) May 30, 2018

Ambien is a highly habit-forming medication that should only be used under the direction of a licensed medical care provider. Seek help, ask others for assistance, if you believe you may have a problem. If you tweet things you regret when "on ambien", you may have a problem.
— 𝕏𝕖𝕟𝕚 𝕁𝕒𝕣𝕕𝕚𝕟 (@xeni) May 30, 2018

Were you ambien photo posing when you took these? pic.twitter.com/YASwdr943v
— Alison Flierl (@2degreesofalie) May 30, 2018

Last time I took an ambien I bought three pairs of the same golf shoes on amazon so I relate. https://t.co/cfovFJxBS6
— ANDREW SANTINO (@CheetoSantino) May 30, 2018

Sorry Roseanne, but tweeting on Ambien is NOT an excuse for racism.
I've tweeted on Ambien many times and at worst, I'll tweet out random scatological non-sequiturs..
And other thing--poop, shit, shart, diarrhea, farts, queefs.
— Erik Bransteen (@erikbransteen) May 30, 2018

Ambien's PR team right now: pic.twitter.com/02P5Qlv1VX
— The chain, ring, and bracelet flaunterer (@TwoMiddlesUp) May 30, 2018

I ate a whole pack of oreos and thought i saw an alien after taking ambien one time. I was not a racist asshole towards the alien nor anyone else.
— Leroy (@Snake_Plisken_2) May 30, 2018

Everyone is focused on the ambien part of this but I wanna know what about Memorial Day makes you tweet racist shit. https://t.co/twEX6FF2P6
— Sarah Colonna (@sarahcolonna) May 30, 2018

Perhaps the best of the bunch, though, was a tweet from the company that makes Ambien:

People of all races, religions and nationalities work at Sanofi every day to improve the lives of people around the world. While all pharmaceutical treatments have side effects, racism is not a known side effect of any Sanofi medication.
— Sanofi US (@SanofiUS) May 30, 2018

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