Sharon Osbourne must have a sense that she's not coming back to The Talk. While some readers may say this story isn't about metal, first off, we can't look away, and second off, I would argue the manager of one of the biggest icons in heavy metal being accused of using racial slurs is in fact a metal story.
A quick recap: Osbourne's talk show, The Talk, has gone on an extended hiatus after a confrontation between Osbourne and her co-host Sheryl Underwood over a discussion on whether comments made by Piers Morgan were racist.
Osborne was confrontational during the debate and at one point said "Don't try and cry because if anyone should be crying, it should be me." You can watch the original clip and see the context here. At this point, the show went on hiatus for two days while producers at CBS looked into the matter. One of her former co-hosts, Holly Robinson Peete publicly accused Osbourne of once claiming that she was "too ghetto" to be on the talk show.
After that accusation, reporter Yashar Ali posted a new article detailing accusations of verbal abuse and racism against the Osbourne matriarch. Former co-host Leah Remini and other anonymous sources confirmed that Osbourne called former co-host Julie Chen "slanty eyes" and a "wonton" and called co-host Sara Gilbert, a lesbian, a "pussy licker" and a "fish eater." Remini accused Osbourne of hurling racist Italian slurs in her direction as well.
Osbourne is in full PR-recovery mode. She gave a quote to UK gossip rag The Daily Mail denying ever saying anything racist, while then repeating the racist phrase. She called the claims 'crap, all crap,' adding "Everyone's got an opinion or a story like the wonton story. It's like fuck off with your fucking wonton story. Fuck off!
"Everybody's got an opinion and everybody's got a voice – it's fine. It's about knowing somebody's been called out for something and then somebody else is like, 'yes!! I'm going to add something too.' Of course, it's a pile on. People want to add fuel to the fire and it comes with the territory and that's fine."
In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, Osbourne called the entire incident "the biggest setup ever." She claims she was only told about the Piers segment moments before going on the air, and claimed the questions she was asked were written on her co-hosts' index cards, but not her own.
She told ET “And I’m like, ‘I’ve been set up,' And I went like, how DARE you all do this to me! I’m your sacrificial lamb.”
Naturally, Osbourne pits the blame on cancel culture: “I think that CBS was so horrified with Piers for the things he was saying. Because remember, Harry and Meghan– it’s a CBS interview,” she said. “I had sided with Piers, so, it’s the cancel culture isn’t it? ‘Throw her under the bus.'”
“People who are let go along the way get pissed off,” Osbourne added. “I’m the big girl with the big mouth, so they fire at me. But I’m not a fool. Don’t accuse me of something that’s a lie.”
Osbourne says she's not sure if she's returning to The Talk next week when it returns from hiatus. “I wish that we could go on and have an adult conversation, calmly, and work it out but I don’t know whether we can,” she said. “I don’t know whether it’s gone past that. But I don’t know whether I even want to go back. I don’t know whether I’m wanted there.”
