Sharon Osbourne’s promise to keep British TV personality Piers Morgan “on standby” after his long-standing criticism of Meghan Markle this week received a heated reception from her co-hosts on “The Talk”, as well as many of the viewers of the show.
On Wednesday, Osbourne fired back at allegations of racism she said she had faced after backing Morgan, whom she described as an old friend. The discussion took place days after “Good Morning Britain” announced that Morgan had left the show after a series of segments in which he repeatedly lashed out at Meghan Markle and rejected her allegations of racist treatment by the British Royal Family.
“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 stated on the episode of Wednesday. “How can I be racist about someone or something in my life?”
Catch part of the segment below:
The conversation took an increasingly emotional turn when co-host Sheryl Underwood, who is Black, reversed Osbourne’s opinion.
“Try not to cry, because if anyone should be crying, it should be me,” Osbourne told Underwood. “Educate me. Tell me if you heard him say racist things! ”
Underwood then concluded, “It’s not the exact words of racism, it’s the implications and the reaction to it – not wanting to address that, because [Meghan Markle] is a black woman and to try to turn it down or make it look less than it is that makes it racist. ”
The conversation sparked a scorching reaction on social media, with many angry at Osbourne’s approach.
“It’s not a black woman’s job to educate EVERYONE about racism,” actor Yvette Nicole Brown tweeted“The education one seeks is EVERYWHERE.” Added writer and comedian Rae Sanni: “White women are something different. Your tears are weapons. “
The controversial chat took place a day after Osbourne expressed support for Morgan on Twitter.
“People forget that you are paid for your opinion and that you are just speaking your truth,” she tweeted.
A day later, Morgan returned the compliments.
“I love Sharon Osbourne because she always stays true to herself,” he tweeted. “She knew she would be abused by the awakened brigade for tweeting this – but did it anyway because it was what she believes.”
Morgan has a long history of making inflammatory comments about Markle both on the airwaves and on social media.
However, the current backlash stems from his dismissal of the Duchess of Sussex’s allegation – made in Sunday’s explosive interview with Oprah Winfrey – that she had contemplated suicide during her time as a working royal family.
Earlier this week, the British media regulator Ofcom reported that it had received more than 41,000 complaints – including one from Markle himself – about Morgan’s charges.
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