Piers Morgan is no stranger to outrage, but after making some questionable comments about Meghan Markle following her bombshell Oprah interview last week, Sharon Osbourne has stepped up to the plate to defend the controversial TV personality.
On March 9, Osbourne tweeted, “[email protected] I am with you. I stand by you. People forget that you’re paid for your opinion and that you’re just speaking your truth,” and was met with some fierce backlash.
On Wednesday’s episode of “The Talk,” Osbourne’s co-hosts expressed their displeasure with her show of support for Morgan, who recently took leave from his position at ITV’s “Good Morning Britain” following comments he made about Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s interview with Oprah that people believed to be rooted in racism.
However, Osbourne clarified on “The Talk,” that she did not necessarily condone Morgan’s comments, and rather believed that he should be able to freely express his opinion.
“It’s not my opinion,” Osbourne said. “Support him for his freedom of speech, and he’s my friend.” But her co-host Sheryl Underwood took issue with Osbourne’s stance, calmly asking, “What would you say to people who may feel that while you’re standing by your friend, it appears that you give validation or safe haven to something that he has uttered that is racist, even if you don’t agree?” Osbourne then grew agitated, asking Underwood to explain when Morgan had been overtly racist.
“It is not the exact words of racism, it’s the implication and the reaction to it,” Underwood said. “To not want to address that because she is a Black woman, and to try to dismiss it or to make it seem less than what it is, that’s what makes it racist,”
she concluded, before clarifying that she and Osbourne are friends and she does not want the situation to be perceived as attacking her for racism. However, Osbourne was still visibly shaken by the confrontation, but later took to Twitter to apologize.
Morgan then thanked Osbourne for standing up for him, writing on Twitter, “When stuff like this happens, true friends run towards you, fake friends run away. I love Sharon Osbourne because she always stays true to herself. She knew she would get abused by the woke brigade for tweeting this – but did it anyway because it [is] what she believes.”
Osbourne is also currently embroiled in controversy with her former “The Talk” co-host Holly Robinson Peete for allegedly calling her “too ghetto” for the show. Osbourne has vehemently denied these claims since and even released an email which is said to be from Peete, claiming that former “The Talk” co-host Julie Chen was actually to blame for Peete’s dismissal. CBS has launched a probe into the allegations from 2011, putting “The Talk” on hiatus effective immediately.