It’s been a few weeks since Sharon Osbourne officially left The Talk following an on-air meltdown, in which she tried to defend her friend Piers Morgan, who himself had left his job over his own on-air meltdown. But she finally broke her silence. Appearing on Real Time with Bill Maher Friday night, the former reality TV show star held little back, railing against her colleagues, who accused her of racist remarks, and calling them “disgruntled ladies.”
“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,” Osbourne told Maher. “Disagreeing with someone does not make you a racist, in my book.”
She also denied claims, from former co-hosts Leah Remini and Holly Robinson Peete, that she’d ever trashed-talked her colleagues, including claims that she’d made anti-Asian remarks about Julie Chen Moonves. “I never, ever said that,” Osbourne said. “I don’t even use those words; they’re not in my vocabulary.”
She also swore she wasn’t looking for sympathy. “I’m a fighter,” she told Maher. “But what about the people who are cut from the knees down and can’t afford to go get lessons on what is politically correct and how to talk to people? It’s not fair because it isn’t about being a racist, it’s about not knowing what is correct and woke for your language that day. Because it changes from day to day.”
But she didn’t just talk about herself. She also — like Morgan, the man who got her in trouble in the first place — railed against Prince Harry. “You know when they say with white privilege? Right there with Harry. He’s the poster boy,” Osbourne said. “He sits there and says daddy cut him off so he’s not on the wages anymore and he was boo-hooing about it. You can’t feel empathy for that because you are healthy, bright educated young man. You can go do whatever you want to do. Your life is your own.”
The inciting incident that led to Osbourne’s departure happened over a month ago, mere days after Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle sat down with Oprah Winfrey for an explosive interview. They alleged enduring racist comments from undisclosed members of the royal family, prompting their departure for the United States. Piers Morgan’s inflammatory comments about the interview — in which he, among other things, called Markle a liar, even about her claim about feeling suicidal — received massive pushback. When Osbourne was asked about him on her own show, she blew up, prompting the program to be put on hiatus. Osbourne had been on the show for 11 seasons and was its last remaining original host.
(Via Entertainment Weekly)
