Jewish actress and comedian Roseanne Barr has defended racist comments about an African-American woman of the Obama administration by saying they were about antisemitism.

Ms Barr, who wrote and starred in the sitcom that recently returned to ABC after 20 years off-screen, tweeted that former White House adviser Valerie Jarrett - born in Iran to American parents - has connections to the Muslim Brotherhood, and compared her to an ape.

Ms Barr wrote: “Muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby=vj,” (Ms Jarrett’s initials).

Her tweets were widely criticised and Ms Barr apologised but stood by her statement, rejecting calls that she is a racist by stating that "Muslims are not a race".

On Wednesday, Ms Barr continued to defend her tweet by suggesting it was about antisemitism.

“Rod Serling wrote Planet of The Apes. It was about antisemitism,” she wrote.

“That is what my tweet referred to-the antisemitism of the Iran deal. Low IQ ppl can think whatever they want.”

Rod Serling wrote Planet of The Apes. It was about anti-semitism. That is what my tweet referred to-the anti semitism of the Iran deal. Low IQ ppl can think whatever they want.

— Roseanne Barr (@therealroseanne) June 14, 2018

The ABC network cancelled the revival of her sitcome in response to her tweet about Ms Jarrett, saying: “Roseanne’s Twitter statement is abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values, and we have decided to cancel her show.”'

Her talent agency ICM Partners dropped her as a client, shortly after the news of her initial tweets broke.