A defiant Sharon Osbourne blamed her “disgruntled” former co-stars on “The Talk” for forcing her off the CBS daytime show last month amid the uproar over her on-air exchange with co-host Sheryl Underwood.
Osbourne spoke out publicly for the first time since she parted ways with “The Talk” and CBS after 11 years on March 26. During an appearance on Friday’s edition on HBO’s “Real Time With Bill Maher,” Osbourne cited accusations of racist behavior from past co-hosts as the reason she was swiftly let go by CBS. Osbourne and Maher also snickered about “woke language” and the heightened sensitivity around racial and ethnic equality concerns in pop culture.
“I’m used to being called names. A racist is one I will not take,” Osbourne told Maher.
Osbourne became the last original panelist to leave “Talk” after her heated exchange with Underwood over British TV personality Piers Morgan that unfolded live on March 10. Osbourne scolded Underwood and asserted that she was being branded a racist because she had expressed support for Morgan, her longtime friend. Morgan generated a huge backlash in the U.K. and U.S. last month after savaging Meghan Markle and expressing his doubts about claims she made in her headline-making interview with Oprah Winfrey last month.
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After the March 10 episode, former “Talk” co-hosts Leah Remini and Holly Robinson Peete came forward with allegations that Osbourne used slurs and made other racist comments during her time on the show.
Osbourne described them to Maher as “disgruntled ladies” and denied Remini’s claim that Osbourne made racist remarks about the Asian ethnicity of former “Talk” co-host Julie Chen Moonves.
“I never, ever said that,” Osbourne said. “I don’t even use those words; they’re not in my vocabulary.”
Osbourne told Maher that she would be OK in the long run but she railed against what she described as “cancel culture” affecting the livelihoods of those who express contrary opinions.
“I’m doing just fine,” she said. “What about the people that are cut from the knees down who can’t afford to get lessons now on what’s politically correct? What happens to them? It’s not fair. It isn’t about being a racist. It’s maybe not knowing what is correct and woke for your language that day. It changes from day to day what is correct.”
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
