Osbourne says she 'begged' her co-hosts 'to stop, to please change subjects.'
Sharon Osbourne says she was "totally blindsided" by the heated debate she and her The Talk co-hosts had this week.
During Wednesday's episode, Osbourne explained why she was defending friend Piers Morgan after he was called out for his controversial Meghan Markle comments. The conversation drew criticism for the way Osbourne was talking back to Sheryl Underwood, as her co-stars attempted to explain why Morgan's comment regarding Markle may have been off-putting to many people.
"I blame the network for it,” Osbourne told Variety on Friday. "I was blindsided, totally blindsided by the whole situation. In my 11 years, this was the first time I was not involved with the planning of the segment." ET has reached out to The Talk and CBS for comment.
Osbourne claimed that minutes before Wednesday's show began, showrunners asked her if she was OK being asked about Morgan.
"I said, ‘Sure, they can ask me whatever.’ But then I get on there, I say my piece and Sheryl turns around straight-faced, looks at me and is reading from a card with questions," she alleged. "I was just so hurt, caught off guard and stunned by what I was being asked and not prepared. I was honestly in shock. I felt like I was in front of a firing squad. I felt like a lamb held out for slaughter. … They had me there for 20 minutes.”
"[I] begged them to stop, to please change subjects," she added about when they went on break. "I’m a big girl. I’m a professional. However CBS blindsided me. I don’t know why they did it to me. The showrunners told me it came from executives to do this to me."
What started with Osbourne defending Morgan quickly led to talking about matters of race. Osbourne said that Morgan had a right to express his opinion, while Underwood argued that "he doesn't want to understand how Meghan was treated was racism and then says…I don't see it as being racist -- I don't believe what she's going through -- it's that white entitlement, privilege that makes it racist upon itself."
"So if you're saying I stand with you, how do you address people who say then you are standing with racism? I'm not saying that you are," Underwood asked, with Elaine Welteroth adding, "When we give passes or give space to people who are saying damaging, harmful things, what we're kind of doing is permissing it. And I think that's what people are reacting to."
Osbourne said she wasn't aware of his racist remarks toward Markle, before asking, "So if I like Piers and he's seen as racist, I'm racist? Is that what you're saying?" Getting visibly emotional, Osbourne stated that she didn't agree with anything Morgan did, but that he's always been there for her as a friend.
Welteroth responded, "But if people know you're not racist they would want you to stand up to your friend who has done racist things and [been] sexist in the coverage of Meghan."
Following the debate, a source told ET that the co-hosts met after their show on Wednesday in a closed-door meeting to discuss what happened between Underwood and Osbourne on-air. But, the source says, nothing was resolved.
At the top of Thursday's The Talk, Amanda Kloots addressed the debate, expressing, "We are a TV family here. Sometimes we argue like we did yesterday and sometimes we laugh but we are back together again today and we are ready to start today's show. So, let's get into these topics."
Osbourne, herself, later took to social media to apologize and further explain her point of view.
On Friday, prior to Osbourne's new comments, CBS released a statement to ET, saying, "We are committed to a diverse, inclusive and respectful workplace. All matters related to the Wednesday episode of The Talk are currently under internal review."
See more in the video below.
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