Roseanne Barr blames sleeping pills on racist quote

Roseanne Barr, a comedian in the United States, has blamed sleeping pills for her racist tweet that went viral earlier this week. Roseanne says that her offensive tweet that compared Valerie Jarrett, a former African American Obama aide to an ape, was a result of “ambien tweeting.” Ambien is a sedative that is used as a sleeping aid. Sanofi, the pharmaceutical company that produces Ambien, said in response to Barrs tweet that although the sedative has side effects – racism isn’t one of them. ABC has since moved swiftly to cancel Roseanne’s show despite it being a ratings winner.