Yesterday night Real time with Bill Maher, Sharon Osbourne expressed the anger and pain she feels surrounding her recent CBS outing The Talk. She was the last original co-presenter to leave the show.
“I’m sorry, I’m 65, you’re 68, I know who I am, I don’t need re-education,” Maher said during the interview. “We can’t judge everyone for their worst moments,” Maher insisted after Osbourne criticized his “disgruntled” colleagues and suppliers for explaining the facts that led to his controversy last month.
“I’ve been called so many things in my life, I’m so used to being called names, but a racist that I won’t catch,” said Osbourne, who received a standing ovation from the audience. “I’ll be fine, I’m fine, because I said I’m a fighter, I’m fine,” Osbourne added.
“It’s not fair, because it’s not about being racist,” he continued. “Maybe it’s about not knowing what’s right and what woke up your language that day, because it changes day by day,” Osbourne continued, citing Robin DiAngelo’s 2018 bestseller White fragility like a sore spot.
“The idea is that you have two options if you’re white, you’re a racist or a racist and you don’t know it,” Maher intervened.
This was Osbourne’s first big interview since he left The Talk after perceiving racist comments stemming from the defense of his friend Piers Morgan, who had said he did not believe Meghan Markle’s comments about the royal family to Oprah on March 7 were true.
Osbourne was at the center of a heated March 10 discussion about the race with roommate Sheryl Underwood. The show had taken a brief break and CBS concluded its investigation on March 26, announcing that Osbourne had decided to leave the show after 11 seasons.
Since his departure from The Talk, Osbourne, cast by the CAA, and former rock and roll manager, have been involved in harmless social media posts until last night’s interview.
Maher had doubts about “awake language,” criticizing the Duchess of Sussex and saying things like “unless you agree with all people of color, then you’re racist,” according to Osbourne.
The HBO host took the stance that there may be some truth about Markle’s claims and the “poster boy” white privilege of Prince Harry’s claims about the racist treatment of his family members. “The old bag is 100,” Maher joked about Queen Elizabeth II over Osbourne’s ironic disturbance with the comment.
On the eve of the funeral of Prince Phillip, Maher and Osbourne agreed that the scandalous British royals are “cold for everyone” and Markle was no exception.
You can check out a clip from the previous interview and watch new episodes of HBO Real time with Bill Maher on Fridays at 10pm ET.
Michael is an aficionado of music and television aficionado of most things that are not a complete and total boredom. You can follow him on Twitter – @Tweetskoor
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