Sharon Osbourne has broken her silence surrounding her recent departure from The Talk in late March.
Sitting down with Bill Maher on Friday, Osbourne told him that she’s “angry” and “hurt” following her exit, which was brought on from racism and misconduct allegations. Maher then recapped—from his point of view—what happened on the March 10 episode of The Talk where things got heated after Osbourne defended Piers Morgan’s critique of Meghan Markle’s shocking interview with Oprah.
“[Morgan] was called a racist and lost his job, and you were called a racist and lost your job. Do I have it right?” Maher said. “Who’s the racist and why? This is what I’m trying to figure out.”
“Me too,” Osbourne responded. “I’ve been called so many things in my life, I am so used to being called names, but a racist is one I will not take.”
According toUSA Today, Maher’s line of questioning continued with him asking, “You have to agree with everything Meghan Markle says or you’re a racist? Is this the standard now?” Osbourne replied, “Disagreeing with someone does not make you a racist.”
Maher appeared to take Osbourne’s side, deeming Queen Elizabeth II to be “an old bag” and saying that the royal family is “cold to everyone” and not just Markle.
During the March 10 episode of The Talk, Osbourne showed her support for Morgan and the remarks he made about Markle and Prince Harry’s interview. Morgan challenged the legitimacy of her allegations of racism, leading to his departure from his talk show, Good Morning Britain. CBS then launched an investigation into Osbourne’s behavior, leading to her exit from The Talk.
“Did I like everything he said? Did I agree with what he said? No,” Osbourne told The Talk. “It’s not my opinion … I support him for his freedom of speech, and he’s my friend.”
Osbourne’s co-host, Sheryl Underwood, said that Morgan’s critique had racist undertones, and that by defending him, Osbourne was supporting his behavior.
