Comedian Whitney Cummings is devastated by how the "Roseanne" reboot she worked on ended in a cloud of controversy after star Roseanne Barr's racist tweet debacle.
When approached at LAX Airport by a TMZ cameraman on June 10, Whitney struggled to find the right words to talk about how she felt in the wake of the show's demise.
Even though "I quit months ago," she said — Whitney, a co-showrunner and writer on the series, tendered her resignation before ABC canceled the reboot's fall season in May amid the fallout of Roseanne's tweet comparing former President Obama senior adviser Valerie Jarrett, who is black, to the Muslim Brotherhood and "Planet of the Apes" — she's been consumed by feelings that "it's a real shame for everyone [because] all the cast and crew are so proud of the work that we did."
Asked how she felt about widespread reports that the series could be saved — there have been talks that star and producer Sara Gilbert cold spearhead a spinoff — she didn't sound enthusiastic.
"You know, I think that everyone is just so desperate to preserve the legacy of a show that touched so many people and with such incredible actors on the show that made time to come back, and so many writers — everyone's just trying to stop the bleeding and preserve all the damage that has been done," Whitney said.
"But my heart's been broken about it so I don't really have words at the moment. But maybe they can salvage the legacy in some way. But if it benefits [Roseanne] financially, it's a bad move." (According to the terms of her deal, Roseanne would have a financial stake in any revival or spinoff of "Roseanne," as she's a co-creator of the original show and characters.)
If a spinoff could be negotiated, Whitney would not be a part of it. "I have too many gray hairs in my head from this whole experience," she told TMZ. "I'm doing my own thing and trying to make my own show and doing stand-up, and, you know, I'm just trying to heal from the whole thing and make sense of it all. I was just as horrified as everybody else and really heartbroken about it. So I'm just trying to put the pieces together."
TMZ also asked Whitney how she'd kill off the character of Roseanne Conner, given the opportunity. Her reply? "A humorous killing of a woman? I can't think of any funny ways to kill Roseanne. I don't even want think about it," she explained.
"Killing her would mean I have to think about her — and I don't even want to do that right now! I'm too pissed off."