The makers of a prescription sleep medication responded Wednesday after comedian Roseanne Barr said “ambien tweeting” led her to post a tweet Tuesday that many deemed as racist.
Representatives of Sanofi, the pharmaceutical company that manufactures Ambien, shared the company’s response on Twitter.
“While all pharmaceutical treatments have side effects, racism is not a known side effect off any Sanofi medication,” the statement said.
Barr was heavily criticized after she wrote that Valerie Jarrett, a black woman who served as a top aide for President Barack Obama, was the product of the “Muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes.” Barr later deleted the tweet and apologized for her comment, which ABC network officials condemned as “abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values.”
Network officials announced Tuesday that the show had been canceled in light of Barr’s tweet.
She asked her fans not to defend her in a since-deleted tweet posted early Wednesday: “guys I did something unforgiveable so do not defend me. It was 2 in the morning and I was ambien tweeting-it was memorial day too-i went 2 far & do not want it defended-it was egregious Indefensible. I made a mistake I wish I hadn’t but…don’t defend it please. ty.”
She later wrote that she mentioned Ambien not to excuse her behavior, “but I’ve done weird stuff while on ambien-cracked eggs on the wall at 2am etc.”
Ambien is a prescription sleep aide. According to prescribing information from Sanofi, the most common side effects of the drug are drowsiness, dizziness, “drugged feelings” and diarrhea.
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