Hit sitcom 'Roseanne' axed over racist tweet row

US television network ABC announced today it was canceling Roseanne Barr's hit comedy "Roseanne" over a joke she made on Twitter that was widely decried as racist.

The sitcom star had earlier apologized to African-American former Barack Obama aide Valerie Jarrett, for what she called a "bad joke." "Muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby = vj," tweeted Barr, star of the newly revived ABC TV comedy "Roseanne." After a barrage of criticism on social media, Barr deleted the tweet, apologized and then said she was leaving Twitter.

"I apologize to Valerie Jarrett and to all Americans," Barr tweeted. "I am truly sorry for making a bad joke about her politics and her looks. I should have known better. Forgive me - my joke was in bad taste." "I apologize. I am now leaving Twitter," she said.

The mea culpa was not enough for ABC however, which issued a statement from its entertainment president Channing Dungey saying it was axing the hit show over Barr's "abhorrent, repugnant" tweet, which was "inconsistent with our values."