Ambien maker Sanofi is sticking up for its sleep aid after Roseanne Barr blamed the drug in part for racist tweets that caused ABC to cancel her sitcom.
Sanofi tweeted that “racism is not a known side effect of any Sanofi medication” on Wednesday morning.
People of all races, religions and nationalities work at Sanofi every day to improve the lives of people around the world. While all pharmaceutical treatments have side effects, racism is not a known side effect of any Sanofi medication.
— Sanofi US (@SanofiUS) May 30, 2018
Barr caused outrage on Tuesday when she posted a racist tweet about Valerie Jarrett, a former aide to President Barack Obama. The tweet read “Muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby = vj,” referring to Jarrett.
Within hours, ABC cancelled her rebooted show, Roseanne, which returned to the network in March after a 20-year hiatus to high ratings.
After pledging to quit Twitter on Tuesday, Barr returned to the social network hours later and said she was “Ambien tweeting” when she mocked Jarrett.
“I went 2 far & do not want it defended-it was egregious Indefensible,” she wrote. “I made a mistake I wish I hadn’t but…don’t defend it please.”
Dictionary.com also tweeted on Wednesday morning that ambient, from which the drug’s name is likely derived, “does not mean ‘prone to making racist comments.”
The name Ambien is thought to come from the word “ambient” or similar words in French. Ambient does not mean “prone to making racist comments,” but it does mean “of the surrounding area or environment.” https://t.co/UpYY5eKzIo https://t.co/XsPn8FthV5
— Dictionary.com (@Dictionarycom) May 30, 2018
This story first appeared on prweek.com