Two senior-level ABC executives recently said in an interview that they regret firing Roseanne Barr after she made controversial comments in a tweet about former Obama aide Valerie Jarrett.
The two executives, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told the Daily Mail last week that firing Barr "was a 'knee-jerk' reaction by ABC's president and admitted that temporarily suspending Barr may have been a wiser decision."
Barr's show was canceled after she wrote about Jarrett on Twitter: "muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby= vj."
"We didn't think it through properly," one executive said. "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."
"This would have given them more time to listen to the public, advertisers and cast members to determine the best decision," the executive continued.
ABC reportedly fears that the show's replacement, "The Conners," will be a ratings disaster because Barr's fan base will not watch "out of loyalty to the actress."
The two executives, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told the Daily Mail last week that firing Barr "was a 'knee-jerk' reaction by ABC's president and admitted that temporarily suspending Barr may have been a wiser decision."
Barr's show was canceled after she wrote about Jarrett on Twitter: "muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby= vj."
"We didn't think it through properly," one executive said. "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."
"This would have given them more time to listen to the public, advertisers and cast members to determine the best decision," the executive continued.
ABC reportedly fears that the show's replacement, "The Conners," will be a ratings disaster because Barr's fan base will not watch "out of loyalty to the actress."
