Photo-Illustration: Vulture and Getty Images
Sounds like CBS won’t have to probe very deep in their internal investigation to find inappropriate conduct by Sharon Osbourne at The Talk. After vehemently defending Piers Morgan’s treatment of Meghan Markle, and later apologizing for her reaction to co-host Sheryl Underwood, sources came forward to journalist Yashar Ali with stories of Osbourne’s past racist and homophobic behavior behind-the-scenes at The Talk. Multiple sources including Osbourne’s former co-host Leah Remini told Ali that Osbourne “would frequently refer to then-co-host Julie Chen, who is Chinese American, as ‘wonton’ and ‘slanty eyes.’” According to these same sources, Osbourne also referred to her out lesbian co-host Sara Gilbert as “‘pussy licker’ and ‘fish eater.’” Remini told Al that, “’Coming from Scientology, where racism, bullying and bigotry is taught, I had to unlearn a lot. I’m still learning and hopefully evolving. I can’t say that Sharon has focused on the work she needs to do.’” The newsletter goes on to outline Osbourne’s past racist comments about Meghan Markle, including saying “She ain’t Black!” and “She doesn’t look Black” on a 2018 episode of The Talk.
On March 12, Osbourne’s former co-host Holly Robinson Peete tweeted about her own experience of Osbourne’s racist treatment, writing, “I’m old enough to remember when Sharon complained that I was too ‘ghetto’ for #theTalk…then I was gone,” implying that Osbourne’s racism was in part responsible for her leaving The Talk. According to Ali, “Osbourne had her attorneys send a cease and desist letter saying if she didn’t delete the tweet below, she would be sued.”
Osbourne’s publicist sent Ali a statement in which Osbourne denies her co-workers’ allegations and calling them “lies.”