Two senior executives at the network have told DailyMailTV that firing the actress was a ‘knee-jerk’ reaction by ABC’s president and admitted that temporarily suspending Barr may have been a wiser decision.

‘We didn’t think it through properly. What Roseanne did was wrong but we shouldn’t have rushed to fire her. It was almost a knee-jerk reaction by Ben [Sherwood] and Channing [Dungey] who should have launched an investigation,’ one insider said.

‘This would have given them more time to listen to the public, advertisers and cast members to determine the best decision.’