“Ding-dong, the wicked witch is dead!”
No, no, Sarah Huckabee Sanders has not quit or been fired (yet, anyway). But Roseanne Barr’s racist, hate-mongering “comedy” has officially gotten the ax by ABC.
The much-needed end to the unnecessary Roseanne reboot has sparked new controversy on the internet, though: exactly how is the past tense of the verb “cancel” spelled?
Merriam-Webster, the be-all, end-all source for any grammar or spelling related questions, hilariously chimed in on Twitter to clear the air:
'Canceled' and 'cancelled' are both standard variants. https://t.co/yI7zEjnxHp
— Merriam-Webster (@MerriamWebster) May 29, 2018
“‘Canceled’ and ‘cancelled’ are both standard variants,” they told their followers.
As a refresher, Barr is a racist. Everyone knew this prior to ABC’s reboot, but Hollywood isn’t always great at original ideas or policing problematic talent. Still, she got a whole first season and was renewed for a second season after high ratings for the premier, a number Trump celebrated at a rally shortly thereafter.
Tuesday morning, Barr unleashed a new tirade, choosing to call former Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett an “ape.” The subsequent fallout was swift, from her co-star to an executive producer to a former writer – all culminating ABC’s no-brainer decision to dump the program.
Or cancel it, spreading confusion about the proper spelling of the word.
So, that’s the tea – whether you want to mock Ms. Barr for causing her own show to get ‘canceled’ or wonder how long it will be until Tim Allen’s Last Man Standing gets ‘cancelled’ as well, you’re right.
Oh, and if you’d like to further expand your vocabulary when speaking about Barr’s reprehensible actions, give this suggestion by Merriam-Webster a shot:
https://twitter.com/MerriamWebster/status/1001537571359547396
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