Sharon Osbourne is officially out at The Talk.
Source: Rich Fury / Getty
The folks over at CBS have announced the TV personality will not return to the daytime talk show following allegations of misconduct and racism.
After serving on the show’s panel since its 2011 premiere, Osbourne received widespread backlash for some ridiculous comments she made during an episode earlier this month. The 68-year-old took it upon herself to defend former Good Morning Britain host Piers Morgan after he was slammed (and subsequently “resigned”) for criticizing Meghan Markle’s tell-all interview with Oprah.
In the interview, the former Suits actress talked about her experiences with racism within the Royal family and revealed she began having suicidal thoughts due to her mistreatment. On Good Morning Britain the next day, Morgan said he didn’t believe Markle’s claims–though many pointed out he was just salty that Meghan has reportedly curved him in the past.
As for Sharon Osbourne, she stood behind Morgan during a March 10 episode. of The Talk, which ignited a tense exchange with co-host Sheryl Underwood. At one point during the conversation, Osbourne even demanded that Underwood “educate” her on why many people believe Morgan was a racist.
“Did I like everything [Morgan] said? Did I agree with what he said? No,” Osbourne said at the time. “It’s not my opinion … I support him for his freedom of speech, and he’s my friend … 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?”
*ding ding ding* sounds like you know exactly what’s going on, Sharon!
Shortly after the episode aired, viewers began calling on CBS to fire Osbourne from the show, just like they did with her mate, Piers Morgan. That’s when the network announced it had launched an internal investigation into the matter.
Following the growing criticism from this one incident, journalist Yashar Ali published a report about Osbourne’s alleged misconduct during her time on The Talk. In the piece, multiple sources–including former co-host Leah Remini–accused Osbourne of making racist and homophobic comments behind the scenes.
While CBS didn’t comment on this backlog of misconduct, they went on to announce that Sharon Osbourne would not be returning to the show due to the events on March 10.
The network released the following statement to Deadline:
The events of the March 10 broadcast were upsetting to everyone involved, including the audience watching at home. As part of our review, we concluded that Sharon’s behavior toward her co-hosts during the March 10 episode did not align with our values for a respectful workplace. We also did not find any evidence that CBS executives orchestrated the discussion or blindsided any of the hosts.
At the same time, we acknowledge the Network and Studio teams, as well as the showrunners, are accountable for what happened during that broadcast as it was clear the co-hosts were not properly prepared by the staff for a complex and sensitive discussion involving race.
During this week’s hiatus, we are coordinating workshops, listening sessions and training about equity, inclusion and cultural awareness for the hosts, producers and crew. Going forward, we are identifying plans to enhance the producing staff and producing procedures to better serve the hosts, the production and, ultimately, our viewers.
The Talk will return with new episodes without Sharon Osbourne on April 12.
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