TV personality Sharon Osbourne issued an apology to the Black community soon after her on-air defense of former “Good Morning Britain” co-host Piers Morgan drew accusations of racism.
Osbourne faced backlash on Wednesday after “The Talk” aired a segment in which she fiercely defended Morgan in spite of his dismissive take on Meghan Markle’s account of her mental health struggles within the British royal family. Morgan’s remarks prompted his resignation from his show.
“To anyone of color that I offended and/or to anyone that feels confused or let down by what I said, I am truly sorry,” Osbourne wrote in the post about her defense of Morgan. “There are very few things that hurt my heart more than racism so to feel associated with that spun me fast!”
On Wednesday’s installment of “The Talk,” Osbourne described the ousted Morgan as a friend and blasted the suggestion that his comments about the Duchess of Sussex were rooted in racism.
“I feel even like I’m about to be put in the electric chair because I have a friend who many people think is a racist, so that makes me a racist,” she said. “How can I be racist about anybody or anything in my life?”
Fellow host Sheryl Underwood, who is Black, pushed back on Osbourne’s remarks, at which point Osbourne became visibly emotional.
Later in the segment, Osbourne demanded that Underwood “educate” her, adding, “Tell me when you have heard him say racist things!”
Noting in her statement on Thursday that she’d “panicked, felt blindsided [and] got defensive” during Wednesday’s broadcast, Osbourne wrote, “Please hear me when I say I do not condone racism, misogyny or bullying. I will always support freedom of speech, but now I see how I unintentionally didn’t make that clear distinction.”
When Morgan caught wind of Osbourne’s apology on Friday, however, he offered a fiery rebuke of his own on social media.
“Sharon’s been shamed & bullied into apologizing for defending me against colleagues accusing me of racism because I don’t believe Meghan Markle’s bullsh*t,” he tweeted. “This is where we’ve reached.”
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