Sharon Osbourne Apologizes for ‘Panicked’ Defense of Piers Morgan After Meltdown Goes Viral
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Sharon Osbourne apologized for her defense of Piers Morgan on Friday — explaining that she “got defensive” after feeling “panicked” and “blindsided.”
Osbourne’s defense of Morgan’s right to an opinion turned into an on-air melt down, as she lashed out at her co-hosts on the CBS chat show The Talk, eventually demanding that Sheryl Underwood “educate” her on Morgan’s accused racism.
“I’m not racist, neither is Piers racist, and I hate the fact of even saying I’m not racist, it’s a terrible evil word to call anybody without knowledge of that,” she said, later adding, “I think when people like Piers, which we should keep it about Piers, I think when they are more outraged at being called a racist than actually acknowledging the racism, I think that’s the problem.”
Osbourne additionally demanded that Underwood, her visibly emotional co-host, not cry, adding, “If anybody should be crying, it should be me.”
Osbourne also defended Morgan on Twitter, telling the British reporter that: “I am with you. I stand by you.”
While The Talk did not address the incident on Thursday’s show, Osbourne took to social media to apologize for her on-air outburst.
“After some reflection, after sitting with your comments & sitting with my heart I would like to address the discussion on ‘The Talk’ this past Wednesday,” she wrote. “I have always been embraced with so much love & support from the Black community & I have deep respect & love for the Black community. To anyone of colour that I offended and/or to anyone that feels confused or let down by what I said, I am truly sorry.”
— Sharon Osbourne (@MrsSOsbourne) March 12, 2021
“I panicked, felt blindsided, got defensive & allowed my fear & horror of being accused of being racist take over,” she added. “There are very few things that hurt my heart more than racism so to feel associated with that spun me fast! I am not perfect, I am still learning like the rest of us & will continue to learn, listen and do better”
She clarified that she does not condone “racism, misogyny or bullying,” yet will “always support freedom of speech.”
“But now I see how I unintentionally didn’t make that clear distinction,” she wrote. “I hope we can collectively continue to learn from each other & from ourselves so we can all continue to pave the way for much needed growth & change. The community on this platform means a lot to me. I hope we can all hold each other up with accountability, compassion & love during this powerful time of paving the way for so much needed change.”
Morgan later took to Twitter to claim Osbourne was “bullied into” apologizing, also demanding an apology from CBS’ The Talk.
Sharon’s been shamed & bullied into apologising for defending me against colleagues accusing me of racism because I don’t believe Meghan Markle’s bullsh*t.
This is where we’ve reached.
I demand an apology from those @TheTalkCBS bullies for their disgraceful slurs against ME. https://t.co/kguRA8KVPJ— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) March 12, 2021
“Sharon’s been shamed & bullied into apologising for defending me against colleagues accusing me of racism because I don’t believe Meghan Markle’s bullsh*t,” he wrote. “This is where we’ve reached. I demand an apology from those @TheTalkCBS bullies for their disgraceful slurs against ME.”
