The Talk returned to the air Monday afternoon with co-hosts Sheryl Underwood, Elaine Welteroth, Amanda Kloots and Carrie Ann Inaba in conversation with a diversity and inclusion expert following the recent resignation of long-term panelist Sharon Osbourne.
Donald E. Grant, who also focuses on equality and justice, served as moderator when the women discussed the infamous March 10 episode in which Osbourne spoke out discussing racism, which led to a lengthy hiatus while CBS conducted the investigation.
“It’s hard to go back to that day because I just feel the trauma,” Underwood told Grant after saying she strived to be an example to people. She said she didn’t want to come across as the ‘angry black woman’ stereotype and explained that she started to cry when she talked to Osbourne because she had to contain her strong feelings.
Welteroth said viewers had seen a familiar scene on TV that day: two women “walking the tightrope like black women walk in the workplace all day.” She regretted that the conversation “went off the rails” as she and Underwood worked so hard to keep things respectful.
Welteroth wanted to make one thing very clear: She and Underwood, she said, were in no way part of a “conspiracy” to attack Osbourne. Press releases suggesting the scenario was “absolutely, categorically incorrect.” (Osbourne had suggested in an ‘ET’ interview that she was set up by network executives.)
“Even if your voice is vibrating and even if you don’t have the perfect words,” Welteroth said, “it’s important that you find your voice and stand up for your integrity and what you believe in.”
Underwood wanted to record that although she had received text messages from Osbourne, she had not responded because she was unsure how to behave during an internal investigation. Osbourne took those lyrics as an apology and couldn’t understand why Underwood didn’t answer her.
“I’ve never experienced anything like it. I didn’t know whether to communicate or not. … I didn’t speak to Sharon, I didn’t get a call from her, ‘Underwood said, adding that if her friend came over and greeted her warmly, she would give it back.
“When you’re friends with someone, you stay friends,” she said.
Kloots said that when the “tough talk” came up, she went into mediator-therapist mode. “I’m trying to hear everyone’s opinion,” she said.
“We all don’t want to get fired,” said Inaba, who had been ill with an autoimmune disease during the recent drama and returned her to the show on Monday.
“Anyone with a brain has a bias,” Grant explained later in the show. He said we need to recognize those thoughts, own them, and figure out how to unlearn “what the world has taught us.”
Before Monday’s episode, Underwood shared a message from backstage, noting that the co-hosts had not been in the studio together since the week of two controversial episodes of talks about race. Osbourne, the last remaining member of the show’s debut panel in 2010, said goodbye to “The Talk” while on hiatus.
“We need to process the events of that day and what happened after so we can get to the cure,” Underwood said Monday, referring to the March 10 episode. For the next hour, we will honestly discuss what happened and examine some of our feelings. And we’ll also show you how someone can feel more comfortable discussing important issues and having difficult conversations. By the end of the hour, we want everyone to feel stronger and ready to move on. “
“The Talk” broke out in early March, a day after Osbourne defended Piers Morgan for not believing the statements of the former Meghan Markle in the interview she did with Prince Harry and Oprah Winfrey. Underwood asked Osbourne what she had to say to those who said the former “America’s Got Talent” judge was covering for a racist. Osbourne stated that neither she nor Morgan was a racist, and the conversation continued.
“In fact, I feel like I’m about to be put in the electric chair because I have a friend who a lot of people think is a racist, so that makes me a racist,” Osbourne said on March 10. Morgan. She dropped an F-. bomb aimed at her boyfriend as the show went to commercial hiatus, asking Underwood to “ inform ” her of what Morgan had said was racist. Osbourne also told Underwood not to cry during their exchange, saying that if anyone should cry, it has to be herself.
Osbourne publicly apologized via social media March 11, in which she said she “ panicked, felt blind. ” Underwood, meanwhile, had moved on to a ‘forgiveness first’ attitude. Still, there was a disagreement last week as to whether Osbourne had personally contacted Underwood to say she was sorry.
“The events of the March 10 broadcast were disturbing to everyone involved, including the audience watching at home,” CBS said in a statement on March 26. 10 episodes did not align with our values for a respectful workplace. “
The network said it found no evidence during its investigation that executives founded Osbourne.
CBS later denied paying Osbourne $ 10 million as part of her departure.