Sharon Osbourne (L) and Piers Morgan. (Jason Merritt/Getty Images)
Piers Morgan claimed Sunday (28 March) that Sharon Osbourne was “bullied” into departing US show The Talk by “woke tormenters”.
The combative television anchor sought to support Osbourne after she defended his much-criticised outburst against Meghan Markle where he said he did not believe her accounts of life in the British royal family.
Osbourne then became at loggerheads with The Talk co-host Sheryl Underwood, colliding on whether Morgan’s remarks about Meghan had “racial implications”.
The 68-year-old panellist was “validating”, Underwood, said, “racist” views. She later demanded Underwood, who is Black, “educate” her about racism live on air.
Viewer backlash brewed against Osbourne, with a slew of allegations emerging that she made homophobic and racist comments towards her co-hosts – claims she denied.
As CBS internally investigates these allegations and briefly pulled daytime talk show The Talk off the air, the network announced that the presenter was exiting her decade-long role.
This, former Good Morning Britain host and tabloid editor Morgan wrote for the Mail on Sunday, was “disgraceful”.
“Sharon was bullied into making a grovelling public apology the following day for getting angry with Underwood, but of course, this hasn’t placated her woke tormentors from continuing to tear her to pieces.
“Now, The Talk has been suspended as CBS ‘investigates’ Sharon’s behaviour.
“She told me tonight she fears they’re trying to get rid of her and said she’s had to hire extra security at her Los Angeles home after being bombarded with death threats.
“This new woke tyranny is as illiberal and dangerous as the fascism it professes to despise.”
Sharon Osbourne ‘does not align with our values’, says CBS
CBS said that Osbourne and Underwood’s dustup was “upsetting to everyone involved, including the audience watching at home”.
Osbourne’s behaviour, it said in the statement sent to the press, “did not align with our values for a respectful workplace”.
As Underwood said of Morgan’s comments during the episode: “It’s not the exact words of racism, it’s the implication and the reaction to it.
“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.”
CBS said it was accountable for what happened during the 10 March broadcast because “it was clear the co-hosts were not properly prepared by the staff for a complex and sensitive discussion involving race”.
Osbourne has issued a grovelling public apology after she was accused of “weaponising her whiteness” during the segment.
She apologised and said she has “deep respect and love for the Black community”.