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Ambien Maker Sanofi Bites Back Against Roseanne Barr
Ambien producer Sanofi has responded to Roseanne Barr’s blaming of the medicine for her racist tweet on Valerie Jarrett.
The company took very little time to respond to Barr’s comments. They stated on Twitter that “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.” This statement lead many Twitter-active doctors and specialists on pharmaceuticals to share their thoughts.
Dr. Jennifer Gunter stated: “Dear @therealroseanne Ambien does not make you racist, being racist makes you racist,” which was forwarded by Dr. David Gorski with the caption “To be fair, Ambien might disinhibit, letting the unspoken racism out to be expressed publicly.”
Azizi Seixas, who studies sleep behavior at NYU, stated: “Taking Ambien doesn’t take care of sleep deprivation. So the combination of sleep deprivation and medication side effects might result in disinhibited or bizarre behavior.”
The medicine, which has been on the market for over twenty-five years, has caused controversy on several occasions. Some of its side effects have caught the public’s attention, since they included sleep walking and other activities that its consumers often cannot remember.
Despite stating that she would leave Twitter, Barr has been responding to the backlash from her comments. She tweeted on Wednesday: “I’m not a racist, I never was & I never will be. One stupid joke in a lifetime of fighting 4 civil rights 4 all minorities, against networks, studios, at the expense of my nervous system/family/wealth will NEVER b taken from me.”
She also tweeted that “you guys make me feel like fighting back. I will examine all of my options carefully and get back to U.” She went on to express her grievances for the firing of her show’s staff, especially for co-stars John Goodman and Laurie Metcalf, which she described as “two of the greatest actors in the world.” Despite her request for Twitter users not to defend her, Barr has constantly retweeted tweets that support her and call for people to stop displaying anger onto her.
President Trump had previously stated his support for the show and praised its ratings. However, after it was made public that ABC reached out to Valerie Jarrett to apologize for Barr’s comments, Trump used his common strategy of connecting events to himself and went on Twitter. He wrote: “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?”
This is not the first time that either Roseanne Barr or her show have been involved in controversy. In her case, she gained attention before this new season premiered, since she openly discussed her character’s support—and her own support—for president Donald Trump. When explaining her decision to make fictional-Roseanne a Trump supporter, she stated that she always saw the show as an opportunity to mirror the current state of the U.S., and wanted to display the fact that many Americans support Trump and voted for him. She added to her statements: “I think it’s the time to close ranks and see an end to ‘hatriotism’ in this country.” This decision, accompanied by her statements and open endorsement for the president, caused for Twitter users to create the hashtag “#BoycottRoseanne”, showing opposition to the show’s upcoming airing.
ABC’s decision to cancel the show—despite having announced in March that it would come back for an eleventh season—is somewhat surprising, since they did not act when Barr tweeted other controversial and offensive statements. They had also showed themselves quite pleased at how positive the show’s ratings have been. Despite this, the statement on the show’s cancelling was simple and direct. They stated on a tweet: “Roseanne’s Twitter statement is abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values, and we have decided to cancel her show.”
Featured Image via: Flickr/Bill Hughes