Sheryl Underwood is finally giving her take on Sharon Osbourne’s recent exit from The Talk — and Sharon is already calling b.s. on it!
In a three-part series on her podcast titled “Sharon Walks Away,” the TV personality got candid about the infamous on-air discussion she had with Ozzy Osbourne’s wife last month that ultimately let to the 68-year-old stepping away from the morning program.
During the chat, Sharon defended her friend Piers Morgan after he faced backlash for questioning the validity of Meghan Markle’s confessions about her mental health and dealing with racism in the royal family to Oprah Winfrey. When Underwood delicately pressed Sharon on the topic, the elder co-host became defensive, yelling at her co-hosts to “educate” her and warning Sheryl not to cry during the discussion. Yeesh.
A rep for the British star previously told People that Osbourne had since reached out to Underwood and apologized. However, in her recent podcast episode, Sheryl claims that was nothing but a lie!
Related: Sharon Plans To Sue CBS Amid Her Racism Controversy!
When asked whether the mother-of-three reached out to her directly to apologize, the comedienne said “no” and even went through her phone history to prove it. So it looks like Sharon’s rep has been peddling some fake news on her behalf, if Sheryl is to be believed!
But here’s the thing… Sharon says otherwise — and apparently has the receipts to back it up!
The former panelist leaked her text messages to Underwood to DailyMail.com, which appear to show that Sharon did, in fact, reach out to Sheryl multiple times after their heated row, and never received a response.
In the first message, sent two days after the on-air incident, Osbourne wrote:
“Sheryl, My heart is heavy and I’m deeply saddened by the events that transpired on Wednesday. I don’t want to lose my true friend over this. Im sorry for telling you to f**k off during break, I’m sorry for accusing you of fake crying while we were live on air and I’m sorry for losing my temper with you. I felt shocked, scared and saddened by what felt like was a blind sided attack. You know me. You know how I’ve always had your back. We’ve outlasted everyone on this show and that’s because we’ve always been a team and had each other’s backs. I consider you a genuine friend. If you want to talk on the phone over the weekend I’m here. Once again from the bottom of my heart I’m sorry. Is there anything You need from me or that I can do to help you heal? Love and respect always – Sharon.”
After three days of no reply from Sheryl, Osbourne sent a follow up text, writing:
“Hi Sheryl. I know you’re taking space and I don’t want to disrespect that. I’m just reaching out because I want you [to] know I’m thinking about you. If you are willing, can we talk before Wednesday? Big kiss.”
Then, three days later, on March 18, Sharon wrote:
“Sheryl I am thinking about you. Hope you are well. Sending my love.”
While speaking to the UK outlet, Sharon claimed that she apologized to Sheryl more than once, sharing:
“I not only sent these messages to Sheryl but I apologized to her in person in her dressing room. Why are you saying I never apologized Sheryl? What are you trying to do to me? Why are you trying to destroy my reputation? Just be honest. Tell me.”
Yikes.
Underwood has yet to respond to her former co-star’s text receipts. But on her pod, she also denied Sharon’s claim that she was “blindsided” by CBS executives who set up the conversation about Morgan, noting that she was the moderator and that “none” of the questions she asked came from network bosses.
The stand-up maintained that she was trying to be extra careful about how she framed the conversation “in a way that was not perceived as attacking,” explaining:
“In my gut, I thought this was going to go left. And so I wanted to put it in its proper order, be very calm, but there were a few people that criticized me on that — ‘Why do you give any f**k about somebody’s feelings? They give no f**ks about yours.’ It’s not about the reaction of the person, it’s about me and who I’m trying to evolve and mature to be.”
As for why she had a feeling the conversation wouldn’t end well? Sheryl went on to reveal that she “heard things” about the British TV personality before joining The Talk for its second season in 2011.
Noting that the two still became “fast friends” when she joined the panel, the Arkansas native said:
“I automatically just fell in love with her because I just like her. And I heard things and I was like, ‘They got nothing to do with me.’ My thing is I’m going to get to know you first… [But] I had heard things, and I got phone calls of this and that and so what I said to those people, I said, ‘Thank you for the information.’ Because listen, in this business you’ve got all types of personalities, right?”
The star didn’t get specific on what she had heard about Sharon but revealed that what she had heard was later confirmed “in hindsight.”
Underwood went on to confess that while she regrets the conversation going so badly, she believed it was inevitable, sharing:
“Sometimes in life, something happens and you go, ‘Gosh, if I just would’ve…’ There’s nothing I could have ‘just would’ve’ — this was going to happen, out of my control,” she said. “Sometimes you don’t want to know what you know, you don’t want to feel and hear what you feel and hear, don’t want to accept what you have to accept.”
And at the end of the day, even though Sharon didn’t apologize to her (or so she says) Sheryl said she still has “love” for her former co-host and her family:
“I still love the Osbournes, from what I’ve known of them. I don’t know anything other than what I’ve experienced with them, and this thing that has happened is disappointing to me… And maybe people don’t want to hear me say, ‘I still love the Osbournes.’ I’m not saying I liked being treated the way I was treated. I’m very disappointed. And I’m just trying to navigate my feelings about that because it was a trauma.”
We have a feeling Sharon feels the exact same way! And may have it in her text messages somewhere…
What do U think of all this going off the rails, Perezcious readers? Which side do you believe? Share your thoughts in the comments (below)!
[Image via Adriana M. Barraza/Avalon/WENN]