Sharon Osbourne is back — but, no, she hasn’t changed her opinions on those racism allegations.
In an exclusive interview with Dailymail.com on Monday, the former talk show host opened up about her controversial breakdown on The Talk earlier in the year — which got her fired from the show after being deemed a “racist” for comments made to co-host Sheryl Underwood in defense of Piers Morgan’s coverage of Meghan Markle. After getting “canceled” by many on social media, the 68-year-old got candid about the aftermath of receiving death threats and cutting ties with former friends.
Reflecting on the now-infamous March 10 episode, Ozzy Osbourne’s wife continued to defend herself, saying:
“It was a freedom of speech matter. It was pure freedom of speech. A journalist friend of mine who wrote something that people didn’t like and then a few crazies out there, some thugs go – ‘you must be racist, that’s why you’re saying it’ – about my friend Piers. It’s like, come on.”
She went on to claim — as she has in the past — that the entire moment was orchestrated by an executive to create much-needed attention for the show, which was in its 11th season at the time. That theory has been denied by CBS repeatedly — and whether or not it’s true, Sharon’s actions definitely added fuel to the fire.
Related: Sharon Plans To Sue CBS After Leaving The Talk Due To Her Racism Controversy!
As a refresher, after Sheryl, who is a Black woman, questioned Sharon over her support of Piers, things got heated leading Sheryl to tear up. At that point, the fiery red-head told her to stop crying, and we don’t think we need to convince you that a white woman yelling that to a Black woman is obviously a BAD look. No matter if she was set up or not. Now, the Brit believes what viewers saw wasn’t the full reality, alleging of her co-hosts:
“They all knew the question and they all knew what was going down. I felt totally betrayed.”
On her outburst toward Underwood, the mom of three added:
“We had a disagreement and I told her she shouldn’t be crying, it should be me that should be crying and that didn’t go down well. Then in the commercial break, she wouldn’t talk to me. I was begging her to talk to me and she wouldn’t, and basically I said, ‘go f**k yourself.’”
According to the MTV personality, it was just a friendly F U though.
“I would say that to any one of my friends. When you say it to a friend, it’s different than saying it to somebody, a stranger. If you can’t get real with somebody who you’ve worked alongside for 10 years, then then you don’t have a friendship, and that’s the way I look at it.”
Um… Feels pretty normal for a colleague (and even a friend) to be offended by that comment, especially after getting into a tense argument! Like, c’mon, Sharon, read the room. Maybe that wasn’t the best time for a so-called joke? You can re-watch the scandalous clip (below).
Moving on from that, The Osbournes alum also complained about the fact producers left her hanging on-air, insisting:
“To leave me for 20 minutes on live TV … on live TV … unprepared, not produced, not knowing what’s going on.”
Hmmm. For someone who’s starred on a talk show for 11 years, doesn’t this complaint read like a bit odd? We’d think a seasoned vet like her could have navigated her way out without making it worse for herself! But that’s not what happened. Shaking her head, she told the outlet:
“Wait, where’s their apology to me? They could have cut at any time and gone to a commercial break, and why didn’t they cut?”
On why she believes cameras kept rolling, she added:
“They didn’t cut because they liked the controversy and they liked that everybody would be talking about this because they needed something for the show that was going into the toilet. So they thought, ‘well, she’s got the biggest following. Let’s go for her.’”
Again, calling out her former employer, the animal lover expressed:
“I felt totally betrayed, not protected by CBS. I felt used. I felt like an old shoe. They didn’t care. It was a set up and it was set up by one of the executives.”
It also sounds like she feels the most “betrayed” by her ex-co-hosts, who the author claims all worked together to sabotage her. Recalling past controversies of The Talk, Osbourne remembered when Carrie Ann Inaba, who also just left the show, was put under the spotlight when having to answer an unexpected fan question, which was:
“Why is it that it’s not okay for white people to use the n-word?”
Musing on that “bad situation,” Sharon continued:
“And I’m like, did I just hear that? And Carrie Ann then started to cry. It was a very bad situation.”
So bad that the group of women met up at the Dancing With The Stars judge’s house to make a “secret pact.” But when push come to shove, they supposedly didn’t live up to their end of the bargain, neglecting to support and protect Sharon when she needed it. The It’s a Boy Girl Thing lead revealed:
“We went to lunch and we all agreed that no, we wouldn’t hijack each other. We all agreed, we all drank on it. We all agreed and it never happened, did it? Because the next month they were all wised up but me.”
And, as we all know, Sharon was facing the worst controversy of her life. With her job at stake, fans and CBS stars attacked her online, the latter of which Sharon didn’t take lightly because they didn’t “know the full story.”
“It was as if I had gone in there with a machine gun and threatened to kill somebody. It wasn’t like I was coming in with T-shirts, with horrible slogans. I didn’t come in with a white hood, I don’t tell jokes about religion or color.”
On the issues with cancel culture, she continued:
“Where is the forgiveness? Where is a second chance? So you say something wrong. You’re not threatening somebody, but you say something wrong. You’re out, you are out.”
Unfortunately, it wasn’t just her job that Sharon lost in the ordeal. Her family also faced a scary amount of death threats, leading her to hire 24-hour security. She got candid, telling DailyMail:
“I definitely went through a difficult patch at the beginning. I found it embarrassing. The humiliation that people would think that I might be a racist.”
Angered that her rockstar husband and adult children were pulled into the potential danger, she shared:
“They were going to kill the family. They were going to come at night with knives, cut all our throats and the animals. So I had all of that, all the threats, and we had to have 24 hour guards.”
And like a fierce momma bear, the music manager argued:
“It’s like, listen, it’s about me, not about [Ozzy], not about my kids. Anything you got to say about me, I can take it. Do not start on my family. I mean, that’s … you can’t get any lower.”
Yeah, that’s not cool.
After hunkering down at home for a while, she’s even had to skip out on fun activities because her emotions overtake her, such as a trip to The Grove with her oldest daughter Amy when she had to leave early.
Related: How Tommy Lee REALLY Feels About Sebastian Stan Playing Him In Pam & Tommy
With the support of co-host, Sara Gilbert, who seems to be the only one she still communicates with, Osbourne started ketamine treatments and lots of therapy to overcome the trauma. According to Harvard, ketamine is a medication used in anesthesia that can treat forms of depression when used in small doses.
“I went through three months of therapy. I had ketamine treatment and I got it all out. All the tears and everything that I felt, you know. All of that, it’s gone.”
Sadly, her alleged racism doesn’t seem to be gone…
While defending herself, she insisted she’ll never embrace “woke culture,” explaining:
“I’m not ‘in’ with the jargon and I don’t want to be. Listen at my age, I need to be hip with my vocabulary? Give me a break. Really, I’m respectful and that’s what I expect back from people.”
So respectful she won’t educate herself on why this is bothering people? She also mused:
“I wish I hadn’t been in that position so that I could have held myself together more. I would have definitely held myself together [if] I knew what they were going to ask me. So I would have been mentally and emotionally prepared.”
Now that she’s healed, she’s planning her comeback. Though it 100% won’t include any form of daytime or reality TV.
“You got to evolve. What am I going to do? Am I going to be a judge again? No. I’m not going to go on another TV show that’s talk because I know right now it’s not a safe place to be. The slightest thing and you’ve p***ed off half the nation and I don’t want to put myself up for that grief. I really don’t.”
But she seems confident she’ll find her place in the entertainment world again, ominously stressing:
“You know how this industry works – nothing’s forever and everyone’s replaceable. Everyone.”
While she waits for her next big gig, she and her singer-songwriter hubby are developing a film based on their relationship, described as:
“It’s a movie about Ozzy’s and my life, how we came together in the early days and our volatile relationship. All the fights, all the make-ups, all the fights, all the arrests, all the everything. And it’s a love story.”
She’s also writing a book and planning a podcast. So expect to hear lots more of Sharon’s perspective soon!
Lastly, the Osbournes Reloaded lead insisted she would not be tuning in to upcoming seasons of The Talk, which now includes Jerry O’Connell as her replacement, scoffing:
“Why would I watch it?”
Wow! A lot to unpack there. It’s pretty clear Sharon never plans to really acknowledge her wrongdoings in that viral episode… But do you think there’s any validity to her claims the co-hosts betrayed her? Especially after hearing that leaked audio clip of Elaine Welteroth seemingly siding with the controversial host? Sound OFF in the comments (below)!
[Image via Nicky Nelson/WENN]
Related Posts
