Sharon Osbourne Says She's "Angry" in First Interview Since Leaving The Talk

Sharon Osbourne declared she isn't a "racist" on Real Time With Bill Maher when discussing her exit from The Talk following controversial comments about Piers Morgan.

By Kaitlin Reilly Apr 17, 2021 6:40 PMTags

Sharon Osbourne railed against "cancel culture" in the wake of her exit from The Talk

On the April 16 episode of Real Time With Bill Maher, the music manager said she was "angry" and "hurt" about the reaction to the March 10 episode of The Talk, in which she defended her longtime friend Piers Morgan following his criticism of Meghan Markle's candid interview with Oprah Winfrey.

Piers, a British commentator who was also a judge on The X Factor alongside Sharon, claimed in a March episode of Good Morning Britain that Meghan was potentially lying about the mental health struggles she suffered during her time living with the royal family. "I wouldn't believe it if she read me the weather report," Piers said at the time.

In a heated conversation with co-host Sheryl Underwood on The Talk, Sharon defended Piers, and declared, "I very much feel like I'm about to be put in the electric chair because I have a friend, who many people think is a racist, so that makes me a racist?"

The episode was met with much controversy, and sparked others to come forward and accuse Sharon of using derogatory language in the past. 

Sharon issued an apology to anyone who was offended by her comments, however, the damage was done. CBS conducted an internal investigation following backlash from the episode, and Sharon left the show, alleging that CBS had "blindsided" her. 

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She did, however, find an ally in host Bill, a longtime opponent of "political correctness." Sharon insisted, "I am so used to being called names, but a racist is one I will not take."

 

Bill added, "Everyone is a snitch now. The current hosts have said they never heard you say anything racist. But some of the past ladies, they said you talk s--t."

Sharon said that the harsh language she used—she denied using racial slurs against former co-host Julie Chen, saying that the allegedly used slurs weren't even in her "vocabulary"—had to do with the fact that women were notoriously "bitches."

"That's the way it goes with girls," she said. "'Jesus, did you see what she was just wearing?' And then you go, ‘Hi!' or ‘You look great!' We're bitches, and that's the way it is. And this has brought it all out."

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Later on, as Bill read a tabloid, which alleged Sharon was weeding through many job offers, something that Sharon said she "didn't know anything" about, Sharon said, "I'm doing just fine. What about the people that are cut from the knees down who can't afford to get lessons now on what's politically correct? What happens to them? It's not fair. It isn't about being a racist. It's maybe not knowing what is correct and woke for your language that day. It changes from day to day, what is correct."

In response to Sharon's interview, and specifically her comment declaring herself not a racist, former The Talk co-host Holly Robinson Peete tweeted, "Then maybe don't say or do racist things. What about what YOU've called people? accountability > 'cancel culture.'"