CBS Launches Internal Review Into Sharon Osbourne’s Heated Exchange On ‘The Talk’ About Racism
The fallout from the charged discussion during The Talk on Wednesday continues, with the network issuing a statement to Deadline Friday night.
“We are committed to a diverse, inclusive and respectful workplace,” CBS said. “All matters related to the Wednesday episode of The Talk are currently under internal review.”
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During Wednesday’s episode of The Talk, which is not made available online by CBS, Sharon Osbourne became emotional and combative during a discussion with her co-hosts about how her public support for Piers Morgan following his comments about Meghan Markle is being perceived. Sheryl Underwood noted that “while you are standing by you your friend, it appears that you are giving validation or safe haven to something that he has uttered that is racist.” Among his most incendiary remarks, Morgan said he did not believe Markle’s suicidal thoughts.
“I feel like I’m about to be put in the electric chair because I have a friend who many people think is racist, so that makes me a racist,” Osbourne said, before asking Underwood to be precise about how Morgan has been racist.
“I will ask you again Sheryl… and don’t try and cry because if anyone should be crying, it should be me. This is the situation, you tell me where you have heard him say racist things. Educate me,” Osbourne said. Underwood replied that it wasn’t “exact words of racism” but “the implication and the reaction to it.”
Following the broadcast, Osbourne tweeted an apology about the exchange to “anyone of colour that I offended and/or to anyone that feels confused, or let down by what I said.” She added that she was “panicked, felt blindsided [and] got defensive.”
There also have been reports of a closed-door meeting among the hosts following the Wednesday show.
Osbourne on Friday morning faced a new racism-related controversy when Holly Robinson Peete, one of the original hosts of The Talk, slammed her former co-host on Twitter saying that Osbourne “complained that I was too ‘ghetto’” for the show and was responsible for Peete’s departure in 2011.
Meanwhile, Morgan retweeted Osbourne’s apology, demanding an apology from The Talk to him. “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.”
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