Her name is Channing Dungey. She made history in 2016 by becoming the first black president of ABC Entertainment Group. Today, she is back in the headlines for firing Roseanne Barr after the comedian made a racially charged comment on Twitter about Valerie Jarrett, the former top aide to President Barack Obama. Barr wrote “Muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby=vj.”
Very soon after, Roseanne Barr was out of a job at ABC as the network announced “Roseanne”, the 90s sitcom that came back to high ratings, has been cancelled.
The decision was made by Channing Dungey and backed by Ben Sherwood, President of the Disney-ABC Television Group and Bob Iger, CEO of Disney. In a statement released on Tuesday, Dungey said, “Roseanne’s Twitter statement is abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values, and we have decided to cancel her show.”
The decision set social media on fire immediately.
But who is Channing Dungey?
- Dungey is a graduate of UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television.
- She stated out as a development assistant at Davis Entertainment for 20th Century Fox and later became the senior vice president of a film production company called Material. She later became president in 2001.
- She joined ABC Studios in 2004 as head of drama. She oversaw the development of shows like Scandal, and How to Get Away with Murder.
