Arts & Entertainment
Ambien Doesn't Cause Racism, Maker Says After Roseanne Tweet
Roseanne Barr, whose show "Roseanne" was canceled by ABC, said her racist tweet on Tuesday was the result of "ambien tweeting."

Sanofi, the maker of Ambien, said Wednesday that racism was not a known side effect of taking any of their medication. The statement from the pharmaceutical company was in response to Roseanne Barr's claim that her racist tweet on Tuesday was a result of "ambien tweeting."
"People of all races, religions and nationalities work at Sanofi every day to improve the lives of people around the world," Sanofi said in a statement. "While all pharmaceutical treatments have side effects, racism is not a known side effect of any Sanofi medication."
Because of her tweet Tuesday, ABC canceled the hit show "Roseanne," and said her statement was "abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values." In the tweet, Barr compared former Obama advisor Valerie Jarrett to an ape. The tweet has since been deleted.
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Barr said on Tuesday that she would be leaving Twitter but she has stayed on the social media platform. On Wednesday, she went on a Twitter spree, retweeting memes and tweets that defended her. Later on Wednesday, Barr retweeted President Donald Trump who said Disney CEO Bob Iger never called him to apologize for the "HORRIBLE statements" made about him on ABC.
Bob Iger of ABC called Valerie Jarrett to let her know that “ABC does not tolerate comments like those” made by Roseanne Barr. Gee, he never called President Donald J. Trump to apologize for the HORRIBLE statements made and said about me on ABC. Maybe I just didn’t get the call?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 30, 2018
She even responded to her co-stars Sara Gilbert and Michael Fishman.
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"Wow! Unreal." read her tweet in response to Gilbert, who said Barr's tweet about Jarrett was abhorrent and did not reflect the beliefs of the cast and crew.
"i created the platform for that inclusivity and you know it.ME . You throw me under the bus. nice!" she responded to Fishman, who issued a lengthy statement condemning Barr's words and said the cast, crew, writers and production staff strived for inclusiveness on the show.
She also claimed she didn't know that Jarrett was African-American. Barr issued a second apology to Jarrett late Tuesday.
Barr has deleted her statements blaming Ambien for the racist tweet. According to CNN Money, Barr made two references to Ambien.
Per CNN, one of her tweets said, "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." A second tweet said, "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."
While she deleted those tweets, she took the time to respond to people who called her out for blaming her tweets on Ambien.
"no, i didnt i blamed myself. stop lying. Yes, I have had odd ambien experiences on tweeting late at night-like many other ppl do. I BLAME MYSELF OK? it's just an explanation not an excuse, Ok, bully?" she tweeted in response to David Pakman.
"i blamed myself. not ambien, stop lying" read another tweet.
Ambien was the top trending topic on Twitter Wednesday. Many people called out Barr's claim that Ambien could make someone say racist things.
Omg. I used to take Ambien! How many times was I racist in my sleep?! GIRL BYE. #ownyouractions
— shonda rhimes (@shondarhimes) May 30, 2018
Racism is not a side effect of Ambien or any other drug. What a crazy world we live in that Sanofi, the maker of Ambien, has to officially come out and say it. Scapegoating a medication for your awful behavior creates unnecessary anxiety for patients who use and need the drug. https://t.co/Bm70Gqq5SN
— Eugene Gu, MD (@eugenegu) May 30, 2018
Meanwhile, reruns of the show scheduled to air on Viacom networks have been canceled, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Hulu is also pulling the show and The Laff broadcast network is dropping reruns of the original series, per THR.
Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images
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