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Channing Dungey Named Chairman Of Warner Bros. Television Group
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One of the top African American executives in Hollywood, Channing Dungey, was named chairman of the Warner Bros. Television Group on Monday.
She will replace Peter Roth, who is stepping down early next year after running the television group for more than two decades.
Dungey previously served in executive roles at ABC and most recently Netflix where she was the streaming giant's Vice President Original Content and Head of Drama.
She left her role at Netflix on Oct. 9.
While at ABC, she was named President of ABC Entertainment, making her the first Black executive to run an entertainment programming division at a major network.
One of her more controversial decisions while at ABC was greenlighting the reboot of Roseanne even after some critics noted the star, Rosanne Barr, had several racist social media posts.
After a successful return to prime time in 2018, the network quickly ordered 13 more episodes just days after its March 27 premiere.
But two months later, ABC abruptly canceled the show after incendiary tweets from Barr about former Obama White House adviser Valerie Jarret in which she said, if "muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby=vj."
Dungey issued a one-sentence statement on the matter.
"Roseanne's Twitter statement is abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values, and we have decided to cancel her show," she said.
The tweet was later deleted and Barr apologized "for making a bad joke." She also said the sedative Ambien played a role in her tweet.
Most of the cast returned without Barr and The Connors is still featured in ABC's prime-time programming.
Dungey also oversaw the network's relaunch of American Idol (which had previously aired on Fox) and created new series that included A Million Little Things, The Rookie and The Good Doctor.
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