Media

Roseanne Barr teams with anti-woke firm for new show on Elon Musk’s X

Roseanne Barr — who was booted from her ABC show for a vile, racist, anti-Semitic tweetstorm — will team with an anti-woke retail company to launch a show on Elon Muskā€™s rebranded platform X, On The Money has learned.

Barr, 70, was signed to a six-figure deal by Publicsq, an online marketplace that counts Donald Trump Jr. ašŸ¦©s an advisor and investor and bills itself as Amazon for conservatives.

The cź¦ompany, which went public via SPAC last month, will be the exclusive sponsor for whatever comes outš’…Œ of the comedianā€™s often foul mouth when the show debuts this month.

It could involve a written monologue or sketch comedy, be at leastź¦• a half hour long and air monthly, sources said. 

No matter the format, it is sure to be provocative — and just what the self-avowed free speech absolutist Musk is looking for as he seeks to bring more original content to the site formerly known as Twitter.

ā€œWeā€™re followers of Elon and itā€™s pretty evident to us thatā™Ž whatever we want goes,ā€ Barr told On The Money. šŸ¦©;

ā€œIt’s a great way for people to fight back against totalitarianism,ā€ she added.

Roseanne Barr
Roseanne Barr will team with an anti-woke retail company to launch a show on Elon Muskā€™s rebranded platform X, On The Money has learned. Paola Morrongiello

Sources with knowledge of how the union of these strangest of bedfellows came together point to YouTubeā€™s decision to remove a video from its website in which Barr joked about holocaust denialism anź¦”d Jews controllļ·½ing the media. Barr herself is Jewish.

YouTube said the video ā€” which was uploaded to comedian Theo Vonā€™s channel ā€” violated its hate speech policies and prevented him from uploading neā™Šw content for a week.

Amid the controversy, Musk backed Vonā€™s support for Barr and , ā€œComedy is legal on this pš•“latform!ā€ 

Enter Publicsq, founded by CEO Michael Seifert in 2021 with the aim of becoming the next big online shopping destination. There’s one twist.

Forš“€ businesses to get on the app, theyā€™re required to commit to values like ā€œfreedom,ā€ ā€œfamily,ā€ and ā€œthe Constitution.ā€

Aside from its close ties to Trump Jr., Publicsqā€™s board of directors includes foršŸ—¹mer Republican Arizona US Senate nominee Blake Masters, Vice President Mike Penceā€™s former chief of staff Nick Ayers, and the founder and CEO of Farvahar Partners Omeed Malik.

The company has found a niche in sponsoring people and programs with a stšŸ§œrong followinšŸŒg who have been ā€œcanceledā€ by popular culture. 

Earlier this year, it stepped in as a last-minute sponsor for a charity event hosted by Buffalo Bills player Jordan PošŸ„€yer after others pulled out because the NFL star said it would be held at a Trump golf couź¦°rse.

Barr, left, and John Goodman appear in a scene from "Roseanne."
Barr and John Goodman in a scene from “Roseanne.” AP

So Seifert decided it was worth taking a chance on the outspoken Barr — notwithstanding her likening former Barack Obama deputy Valerie Jarrett to an ape and calling George Soros a ā€œNazi,ā€ which led to ABC firing her from the reboot of the long-running hit ā€œRoseanne.ā€   

ā€œPublicSq proudly stands for free speech and against the cancellation of dissenting voices. We are beyond excited to partner with Roseanne Barr on her new monthly special. PublicSq will continue to honorā™ Americaā€™s free speech values that so many corporate behemoths ignore,ā€ Seifert said in a statement.

While neither Barr nor Publicsq has spoken with anyone at X about possible limits on šŸŒ³what topics the comedian will tacklešŸŽ¶, they said they believe their new program will be in line with the siteā€™s moderation policy. 

ā€œElonā€™s push since he bought TwittšŸ… er is all ašŸŒ bout free speech ā€” he stands by comedy, which is a crucial part of the First Amendment,ā€ Barrā€™s son Jake Pentland told On The Money.Ā 

He added that the show will be ā€œfunnier than prį€£ograms on other platformsā€ since X is ā€œthe only platform that allows free speech.ā€

Muskā€™s bid to tš’€°urn the app into ašŸŒŸ full-fledged digital town square has included giving Tucker Carlson a show and helping to launch Florida Gov. Ron DeSantisā€™ presidential run.

He has also attempted to lure left-leaning vš“‚ƒoices like fired CNN anchor Don Lemon and Mā™ŽSNBCā€™s Rachel Maddow.

ā€œItā€™d be great to have [Rachel] ź§‹@maddow, @donlemon, & others on the left put their shows on this platform. No exclusivity or legal docs required!ā€ he .

The platform now letšŸ… s users post long form texts and videos that run several hours.

It also launched tools that promise to give content creators a sliā–Øce of the ašŸŽ¶d revenue.

Even as Musk invites all kinds of creašŸ’«tors, the company has tried to thread the needle delicately between allowing free speech and limiting hate speech so as not to chase away advertisers. 

Since Musk bought the online platform fšŸ·or $44 billion last October, the company has lost 50% of its ad dollars, Musk tweeted last month.