Osbourne claims she was ‘set up’ on ‘The Talk,’ but regrets her reaction

“The Talk” host Sharon Osbourne on Wednesday claimed that she was “set up” by her co-hosts when they asked her questions about her support for Piers Morgan.

The argument between Osbourne and her colleagues resulted in the show’s hiatus.

During a sit-down interview with Entertainment Tonight, Osbourne stated that she was the only co-host who wasn’t previously made aware of the topics for conversation prior to filming.

“Sheryl [Underwood] turns around and asks me this question and … she was reading it off a card. It wasn’t on my cards,” Osbourne told ET Tuesday. 

“And then Elaine [Welteroth]’s reading her questions and I’m like, ‘I’ve been set up.’ They’re setting me up. My anger was like, I cannot believe this, I’m your sacrificial lamb,” she continued. 

Osbourne explained that the co-hosts had made a pact in February that they wouldn’t ask questions created by producers without first giving each other a head’s up. The agreement was made following an incident during which host Carrie Ann Inaba asked Welteroth a question regarding racial issues that Osbourne claimed Inaba didn’t want to ask.

In light of the alleged agreement between her colleagues, Osbourne felt “blindsided” by Underwood, who pressed Osbourne on her defense of Morgan and whether she found his comments about Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, racist.

Morgan stormed off the set of “Good Morning Britain” after he was pressed about his own comments regarding Meghan. 

“I was pissed with a friend,” Osbourne said. “Pissed off with my friend for not giving me the heads up.”

In hindsight, however, Osbourne acknowledges that Underwood was “doing her job.”

“She did what she was asked to do, and I can’t blame her for that,” Osbourne added.

Osbourne said she regrets how she handed the situation.

“I let myself down,” she added. “I let her down by losing my cool.”

“The Talk” has been put on hiatus as an investigation is conducted over the dispute.

In the wake of the incident, allegations have come to light over incendiary comments Osbourne reportedly made about her co-hosts, including that she would frequently refer to her former co-host Julie Chen, who is Chinese American, as “wonton” and “slanty eyes,” and former co-host and executive producer Sara Gilbert, who is a lesbian, as “p—- licker” and “fish eater.”

Howard Bragman, a spokesperson for Osbourne, denied the allegations in a statement to CNN.

“The only thing worse than a disgruntled former employee is a disgruntled former talk show host,” he said.

The statement continued, “For 11 years Sharon has been kind, collegial and friendly with her hosts as evidenced by throwing them parties, inviting them to her home in the UK and other gestures of kindness too many to name. Sharon is disappointed but unfazed and hardly surprised by the lies, the recasting of history and the bitterness coming out at this moment.”

Bragman did not immediately respond to The Hill’s request for comment.

The Hill has also reached out to CBS for comment.