Sharon Osbourne has denied using racial and homophobic slurs towards her co-hosts on The Talk after claims emerged against her earlier this week.
It comes after US journalist Yashar Ali allegedly reported that Osbourne called her then-co-host Julie Chen, who is Asian-American, a “wonton” and “slanty eyes”.
Osbourne also allegedly referred to her former co-host and executive producer Sara Gilbert, who is a lesbian, as “p**** licker” and “fish eater”, reported Ali, citing multiple sources including former co-host Leah Remini.
Osbourne issued a statement through her lawyer denying the claims earlier this week but she has now also responded directly to the claims.
“Everyone’s got an opinion or a story like the ‘wonton’ story,” Osbourne said. “It’s like fuck off with your fucking ‘wonton’ story. Fuck off!” she told The Daily Mail.
“Everybody’s got an opinion and everybody’s got a voice – it’s fine. It’s about knowing somebody’s been called out for something and then somebody else is like, ‘yes!! I’m going to add something too’.”
She added: “It’s all crap. It’s all crap. I don’t want to go there with her. She makes her living out of outing people. So, it’s like come on.
“It’s got no real foundation. Allegations of calling a Chinese lady a ‘wonton’, it’s like – is that all you’ve got? It’s like really?”
The allegations against Osbourne began with Holly Robinson Peete tweeting that the talk show host allegedly made racist statements against her when she was fired following The Talk‘s first season.
Peete alleged that her former co-host complained that she was “too ghetto” for the show, claiming this was the reason she was let go.
I’m old enough to remember when Sharon complained that I was too “ghetto” for #theTalk…then I was gone
I bring this up now bc I was mortified watching the disrespectful condescending tone she took w/her co host who remained calm & respectful because…she HAD to
#fbf https://t.co/7pnCnhM5rf pic.twitter.com/CXR4DzvlEZ
— Holly Robinson Peete
(@hollyrpeete) March 12, 2021
Responding to those claims, Osbourne said: “In situations like this, you’re always going to get people who you’ve had disagreements with in the past, people who’ve got axes to grind, who come out of the woodwork and they’ll come out with their BS and that’s it. It doesn’t surprise me at all. It doesn’t surprise me.”
CBS has placed the show on hiatus until March 23 at the earliest as it investigates the claims made against Osbourne, who is the only surviving co-host still on the show after it started 11 years ago.
The Talk had initially been taken off air for two days following a row between Osbourne and co-host Sheryl Underwood about Piers Morgan.
Osbourne was one of the first people to voice support for Morgan over his criticism of the Duchess of Sussex. That led to a clash with Underwood, who claimed Osbourne “gave validation” to his “racist” views, causing CBS to launch an internal investigation, and take the show off air.
Speaking about the row, Osbourne said: “I kind of think they’re going to use me as a sacrificial lamb and fire me. It’s fine. It’s fine. It hasn’t happened yet but I’m sure it will.
“If that’s what they want to do, so be it. I’m a big girl. I lost my cool in there [on the show], I did. I totally lost it and came off so horribly defensive. I can only learn from that.
“I don’t know what they’ll do. It’s a big, ugly mess. But I didn’t start it. I didn’t start it. It’s down to the producers of the show.”
NME has contacted representatives for Osbourne and CBS for comment.
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