SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES

Dori: The obvious double-standard with Roseanne and Samantha Bee

Jun 1, 2018, 10:27 AM

Samantha Bee...

Comedian Samantha Bee (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File)

(Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File)

As everyone heard earlier this week, Roseanne Barr sent out a racist tweet about Obama staffer Valerie Jarrett, in which she implied that Jarrett was the offspring of “Planet of the Apes.” In response, ABC promptly fired Roseanne, canceling the 2018 reboot of her hit 90s sitcom “Roseanne.”

My question is, what will happen to comedian Samantha Bee? Wednesday night on TBS, Samantha Bee used the most vile word in our English language when she called Ivanka Trump the c-word. Samantha was making a comment on the government’s immigration policy, in which parents and children are separated at the border. The comedian criticized Ivanka Trump for tweeting a photo of her with her son, calling it oblivious.

RELATED: Roseanne blames Ambien for racist tweet

You don’t have to be a Trump supporter to find it absolutely repulsive to call a woman the c-word. But we now know that TBS is not going to treat Samantha Bee the same way that ABC treated Roseanne. Like Roseanne, Samantha apologized on Twitter. TBS praised her on Twitter along with an apology of their own.

The double-standard is undeniable here. Calling a woman the c-word is every bit as vile and disgusting as calling an African-American woman the offspring of an ape. They are both inexcusable. But the reaction is about as unpredictable as you can get in America these days. Roseanne was fired. Samantha kept her job.

Roseanne is a wack-job, there’s no doubt about that. I don’t know if Roseanne was drunk or high or bipolar when she sent out that tweet. She claimed Ambien, which I’m not buying, but either way, it was a stupid, inexcusable, career-destroying tweet. However, Samantha Bee not only planned on what she said well in advance, but they put it in the teleprompter, and her producers were aware of what she was going to say. TBS allowed it to air on their network. There is no way to explain this societal double-standard that we have.

Not to mention, Roseanne’s show was a cash show; it was the most successful sitcom in years on network television. And ABC dropped it immediately. Samantha Bee is a marginal show on a marginal network. Yes TBS stood by her. Why? Because calling the president’s daughter the c-word is, somehow, in the bizarre world of showbiz, infinitely more acceptable than calling an African-American the offspring of an ape. They’re both horrible. They’re both disgusting. But the reaction is stark.

Equally disgusting. One cost someone her career. The other got laughs from an entire audience. You can’t say that one is a comedian and one isn’t — Roseanne began her career doing stand-up. They’re both the same.

Also, that is a word that I find so vile. It is a word that has not and will not ever pass over my lips. The c-word to describe a woman is every bit as disgusting as the n-word to describe an African-American. But you can be vile — as long as you’re describing the daughter of a Republican president.

Haitian costumes for Lespri Ayiti Mas Camp are displayed ahead of the West Indian Day Parade, Thurs...

Associated Press

For New York’s Haitian community, annual West Indian Day Parade means more in trying times

NEW YORK (AP) — Steel drums, flag-draped floats, and the smell of jerk chicken will fill Brooklyn’s Eastern Parkway on Monday, as hundreds of thousands turn out for the West Indian Day Parade, one of the largest celebrations of Caribbean culture in the country. This year, Haitians are marching under more solemn circumstances than in […]

7 hours ago

Associated Press

Fuel prices at record Labor Day high in US thanks to Iran War and refinery issues

It’s never been more expensive in the U.S. to fill up the tank and take one last summer trip over the Labor Day weekend. The average price of regular gas was $4.14 a gallon heading into the holiday, nearly a dollar higher than last year and well above the Labor Day weekend record of $3.82 […]

7 hours ago

Associated Press

Asian shares are mixed as chipmaker shares rally in Tokyo and Seoul

TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares were trading mixed on Monday, with benchmarks in Tokyo and Seoul leading gains thanks to buying of computer chipmakers’ stocks. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 added 1.7% to 66,104.93, while South Korea’s Kospi jumped 3.3% to 6,907.53. Shares in Samsung Electronics jumped 4.5% and memory chipmaker SK Hynix surged 6.2%. “The […]

7 hours ago

Associated Press

Assailant lunged at Democratic candidate for Ohio governor at fair, campaign says

WASHINGTON (AP) — An armed assailant lunged at the Democratic candidate for Ohio governor, Amy Acton, on Sunday during a campaign stop at the Canfield Fair, injuring several people, campaign officials said. The suspect knocked volunteers to the ground and was arrested with “multiple weapons,” Mahoning County Democratic Party chairman Chris Anderson said in a […]

13 hours ago

This photo provided by Steve Hague shows a surfer at Newport Beac, Saturday, Sept. 5, 2026, in Newp...

Associated Press

Storm creates huge waves and dangerous currents at southern California beaches

Hurricane Marie, well out in the Pacific, created flooding and dangerous conditions at some southern California beaches over Labor Day weekend, with strong currents and huge waves presenting a threat to swimmers and surfers. Rose Schoenfeld, a National Weather Service meteorologist, said Sunday that Marie stirred up “life-threatening” conditions as it churned in the ocean […]

14 hours ago

This satellite image released by NOAA shows Hurricane Lowell approaching Hawaii, Sunday, Sept. 6, 2...

Associated Press

Hawaii residents told to expect tropical storm conditions as Hurricane Lowell passes to the west

LIHUE, Hawaii (AP) — Officials in Hawaii urged residents and visitors to prepare for heavy rains, flooding and possibly mudslides as Hurricane Lowell, a major Category 3 storm, prompted the National Hurricane Center to issue a tropical storm warning for two islands on Sunday. The Miami-based center issued the warning for Kauai and Niihau as […]

15 hours ago

Dori: The obvious double-standard with Roseanne and Samantha Bee