Sharon Osbourne fears she may not be wanted back on The Talk after CBS launched a probe and took the show off air following her on-air spa...
Sharon Osbourne fears she may not be wanted back on The Talk after CBS launched a probe and took the show off air following her on-air spat with co-host Sheryl Underwood.
In an interview with Entertainment Tonight on Tuesday, Osbourne opened up on the backlash she has faced since her an televised row with Underwood a week ago.
The 68-year-old has been accused of being racist for defending her friend Piers Morgan in the wake of his Meghan Markle comments.
'I wish we could go on and have an adult conversation calmly and work it out but I don't know whether we can,' Osbourne said of the spat.
'I don't know whether it's gone past that. I would love to but I don't know whether I even want to go back... I don't know whether I'm wanted there.'
Her interview came amid new allegations that Osbourne frequently called former co-hosts Julie Chen a 'wonton' and Sara Gilbert, who is a lesbian, a 'fish eater' as sources alleged the TV host has a history bullying and racist language.
Osbourne, however, has slammed the allegations as 'lies'.
Sharon Osbourne fears she may not be wanted back on The Talk after CBS launched a probe and took the show off air following her on-air spat with co-host Sheryl Underwood
Osbourne has found herself at the center of a race row ever since she defended Morgan, her longtime British TV host friend, during the heated on-air discussion with Underwood last week.
Morgan left the Good Morning Britain show after saying he didn't believe a word Meghan Markle said in her Oprah interview in which she revealed she considered suicide during her time as a senior royal.
The row between Osbourne and her co-hosts began after she tweeted in support of Morgan shortly after his departure was announced, saying: 'I am with you. I stand by you. People forget that you're paid for your opinion and that you're just speaking your truth.'
On-air, Underwood asked Osbourne: 'What would you say to people who may feel that, while you're standing by your friend, it appears that you gave validation or safe haven to something that he has uttered that is racist, even if you don't agree?'
Osbourne hit back, saying she felt like she was being placed on 'the electric chair' for having him as a friend. She asked her co-hosts to show her what Morgan had said that was racist. At one point Osbourne said to Underwood: 'Don't try to cry. If anyone should be crying, it should be me.'
Osbourne said in her ET interview that she felt blindsided by Underwood when she was questioned on-air last week about her support for Morgan and his right to free speech.
She said The Talk's showrunners and producers failed to prepare her properly and that her co-hosts had their questions written for them on cards.
After being asked the questions on air, Osbourne said she knew she was being set up and described herself as a 'sacrificial lamb'.
She claims the show's producers later told her offscreen that CBS 'executives' had ordered she be confronted about her support for Morgan.
Osbourne has faced criticism over her an on-air feud with Underwood after she was accused of being racist for defending her friend Piers Morgan in the wake of his Meghan Markle comments
As part of the investigation, Osbourne said she has demanded to know who was responsible for deciding the questions she was asked.
CBS has not commented on that accusation.
The network has not said exactly what it is investigating but said in a statement that it 'is committed to a diverse, inclusive and respectful workplace across all of our productions.'
Insiders have told DailyMail.com that Osbourne was 'set up to fail' by CBS executives over her defense of Morgan in a bid to oust her - the highest paid host - from the show.
Osbourne, who apologized on social media last week for causing offense, said on Tuesday that she could have handled herself better during the on-air dispute and that she shouldn't have 'dismissed' Underwood's feelings.
'I can't not own up. I said what I said. I got too personal with Sheryl. I should've never said stop her tears. She was hurting as I was hurting,' Osbourne said.
'I love Sheryl, I've apologized to Sheryl, she's not gotten back and I can understand. Sheryl needs her time.
Osbourne, however, doubled down on her previous statements that she isn't racist.
'I am not a racist and if you can't have a go at your friend who happens to be black, does that make me racist because I said certain things to my friend, but I said them on camera?
'I will keep on apologizing to Sheryl, even if I decide not to go back, I will still keep apologizing to Sheryl. I have nothing but respect and so much affection for Sheryl. I don't want to hurt her.
'I let myself down. I let her down by losing my cool, by not centering myself to say, 'OK, for some reason they're doing this to me... you're on national TV, stay calm, stay calm. And I didn't. So. I blew it. But that does not make me a racist.'
Osbourne has since said she was 'blindsided' by Underwood, CBS and horrified to be called a racist for her defense of Piers Morgan
Osbourne, however, said she is willing to have an on-air conversation to further the conversation about race and make the controversy 'a teachable moment'.
She also said she is open to be being educated about issues facing black people.
'Do I have my finger on the pulse of what's going on, with the black situation in this country? No,' she said.
'The ins and the outs of the way the younger generation feel right now, I don't have my finger on the pulse.'
It comes as sources who spoke to journalist Yashar Ali, including former co-hosts Leah Remini and Holly Robinson Peete, have since alleged that Osbourne has a history bullying and racist language.
The sources say Osbourne repeatedly referred to then-co-host Chen as 'wonton' and 'slanty eyes'.
They also claim Osbourne referred to another then co-host Sara Gilbert, who is a lesbian, as a 'p***y licker' and 'fish eater'.
Osbourne is the only original host left on the show, which began in 2010 with Chen, Gilbert, Remini, Marissa Jaret Winokur, and Holly Robinson Peete.
Robinson Peete came out last Friday to accuse Osbourne of racism, tweeting: 'I'm old enough to remember when Sharon complained that I was too 'ghetto' for #theTalk … then I was gone.
'I bring this up now bc I was mortified watching the disrespectful condescending tone she took w/her co host who remained calm & respectful because … she HAD to.'
CBS has extended The Talk's hiatus for yet another week after Sharon Osbourne was accused of frequently calling former co-host Julie Chen a 'wonton' and 'slanty eyes'. They are pictured above together in 2015
Sources have claimed Osbourne repeatedly referred to then-co-host Julie Chen (center) as 'wonton' and 'slanty eyes'. They also claim Osbourne referred to then co-host Sara Gilbert (right), who is a lesbian, as a 'p***y licker' and 'fish eater'
Leah Remini, who was a co-host of The Talk for the first season, accused Osbourne of racism
Osbourne replied on Saturday, tweeting: 'Never in my life did I utter the words that Holly was 'too ghetto' to be on the Talk, as well as not having her fired.'
Osbourne, via her attorney, reportedly sent a cease-and-desist letter to Robinson Peete demanding she take down her tweet within 24 hours or face litigation. It currently remains online.
Osbourne told Variety of the accusation: 'It's an absolute lie—a 110 percent lie. I cannot have anyone fired. And that is not a term I use. That's not in my vocabulary. I don't speak like that.
'The only ghetto I know is the Warsaw Ghetto, and I think that's the only time I've ever referred to something like that.'
Ali, however, tweeted a clip of Osbourne in 2011 dismissing Remini's Brooklyn accent and language as 'ghetto'.
Remini told Ali that even Osbourne took her to lunch in August 2010 - before the show started filming - and tried to persuade her to join in ousting Robinson Peete as a co-host.
Remini said that Osbourne told Remini she learned from the experience that 'Holly wasn't a good person, not to trust her and that we should find 'another black person who is funny.' '
Remini was fired after one season, and accused Osbourne of being behind her ousting.
Osbourne is accused of calling lesbian actress Gilbert, who left the show in 2019, a 'p**** eater'
The Talk: Sheryl Underwood, Sara Gilbert, Sharon Osbourne, Eve and Julie Chen
Remini told Ali she deeply regrets not saying anything about Osbourne's remarks about Robinson Peete at the time.
'Not only did I do nothing about the racism and bullying I was receiving and witnessing, I was party to it,' Remini said.
'I had to own up to my own ugly.'
Remini called the show a 'toxic environment' and said she was 'easily manipulated into a web of high school vitriol, hatred and bullying.'
In response to the claims published by Ali on Tuesday, Osbourne's publicist Howard Bragman said the talk show host was 'disappointed but unfazed and hardly surprised by the lies'.
'The only thing worse than a disgruntled former employee is a disgruntled former talk show host,' he said.
'For 11 years Sharon has been kind, collegial and friendly with her hosts as evidenced by throwing them parties, inviting them to her home in the UK and other gestures of kindness too many to name.
'Sharon is disappointed but unfazed and hardly surprised by the lies, the recasting of history and the bitterness coming out at this moment.
'She will survive this, as she always has and her heart will remain open and good, because she refuses to let others take her down.'
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