Sharon Osbourne, long the “big girl with the big voice” at “The Talk,” doesn’t know if she’ll return after the network finishes its investigation of last week’s racially fueled dustup over her defense of Piers Morgan.
The production hiatus on CBS’ roundtable chat show, which was placed on a two-day break after Osbourne and cohost Sheryl Underwood tangled last Wednesday, was extended for a week Tuesday.
Osbourne, 68, told “Entertainment Tonight” that same day that she felt she’d been set up by CBS executives. She referred to a pact the panelists allegedly made in February after Carrie Ann Inaba caught fellow cohost Elaine Welteroth off guard with a question she had been given by producers.
Inaba, who is Asian American, asked Welteroth, who is Black, what Osbourne called a “very naive” question about why white people couldn’t use the N-word. After Welteroth and Inaba both wound up in tears, Osbourne said, they all agreed that, moving forward, they wouldn’t blindside one another with surprise questions.
Last Wednesday, Osbourne said, a producer asked her if she would “clear up the Piers thing again” even if “maybe one of them doesn’t agree with you.” But she didn’t expect Welteroth to bring up antiracism and she didn’t expect Underwood to imply she was giving cover to racism.
“I’ve been set up,” Osbourne told “ET,” describing her thoughts in the moment. “And I went, like, how dare you all do this to me? I’m your sacrificial lamb.”
Osbourne did admit to “having a go” at Underwood, her friend of 11 years, including when she told Underwood “don’t try and cry,” reserving that right for herself.
“I got too personal with Sheryl. I should never have said [anything] about her tears. I should never have dismissed her feelings on national TV. Ever. But I said it, I have to own it,” she said.
Then she added fiercely, “I was so angry. I cannot begin to tell you.” But not with Welteroth or Underwood. Her anger was directed at CBS, her network of 11 years.
(Excerpt) Read more in: Los Angeles Times