Piers Morgan has praised his friend Sharon Osbourne for defending his right to an opinion even at the cost of her job, accusing CBS of ‘hypocrisy’ for forcing her out as co-host of The Talk.
Morgan, the Editor-at-Large of DailyMail.com, spoke out on Monday in his first sit-down interview since being forced to leave Good Morning Britain, calling Osbourne’s ouster ‘even more disconcerting’ than his own.
‘I thought it took enormous courage by Sharon in the middle of my firestorm… Sharon went on Twitter immediately, within one hour of the news breaking that I’d gone and defended me and my right to have an opinion,’ Morgan told Tucker Carlson on the Fox News host’s new online series for Fox Nation.
‘She didn’t agree with everything I’ve said. She was already on the record from the day before as saying she disagreed with me about a lot of things,’ Morgan said. ‘But, when it really mattered, when the chips were down for me, she was there, she was a loyal friend. And my God has she paid for that loyalty.’
Piers Morgan has praised his friend Sharon Osbourne for defending his right to an opinion even at the cost of her job, accusing CBS of ‘hypocrisy’ for forcing her out at The Talk
‘When it really mattered, when the chips were down for me, she was there, she was a loyal friend. And my God has she paid for that loyalty,’ Morgan said of Osbourne (with him above)
Last month, Morgan became the target of online outrage and wild accusations of racism after stating that he did not believe key claims made by Meghan Markle in her interview with Oprah Winfrey, including that a senior Royal made racist comments about her son Archie’s skin tone, and that Palace staff rebuffed her attempts to seek counseling when she had suicidal thoughts.
He was forced out of his job at UK breakfast show GMB when he refused to back down from his position, and the controversy spread to the U.S. when Osbourne was forced to leave her long-time role at The Talk after defending Morgan’s right to his opinion.
After Osbourne spoke out on Twitter to defend Morgan, a heated on-air exchange followed in which her co-hosts accused Morgan of ‘unconscious racism’ and slammed her for supporting him.
‘She was taken down very deliberately and it was all because she dared to tweet that I was entitled to my opinion,’ Morgan said. ‘And then because she said that on Twitter, she was attacked on her own show by her co-host who said that [her defense of me] effectively was her supporting someone who said racist things.’
‘When Sharon got annoyed and said, well, what did he say that was racist? They couldn’t say anything because I never had. And yet now, Sharon’s gone, too. So I — I look at this — this cancel culture, it’s a real thing,’ he continued.
‘This woke mob want to cancel people who do not follow their narratives and it’s got increasingly dangerous,’ Morgan said.
Sharon Osbourne left The Talk after a controversy that began with her on-air defense of Piers Morgan, who said he did not believe Meghan Markle
Morgan had said he did not believe Meghan Markle’s remarks in the Oprah interview, in which she accused the Royal Family of racism and said she was driven to suicidal thoughts
Morgan slammed claims that his criticism of Meghan Markle was racially motivated, and noted that his critics offered no specific examples of any racist remarks on his part.
‘What did I say that was racist? What have I ever said that’s ever been even remotely construable as racist towards Meghan Markle?’ he asked.
‘Now, Sharon Osbourne said it could be, I just don’t like her. And I don’t like her because I think she’s causing enormous damage to my country and its reputation and to the monarchy, which I love, and to the Royal Family and the Queen,’ Morgan continued.
Morgan also slammed CBS for ‘hypocrisy’ in forcing Osbourne out, pointing to a parallel incident in the past involving Sheryl Underwood, one of The Talk co-hosts who challenged Osbourne on-air over her support of Morgan.
‘There’s a real hypocrisy at “The Talk” as well involving Sheryl Underwood,’ he said.
Morgan recounted an incident from 2017 in which comedian George Lopez told a joke that there ‘two rules’ in the Latino community, one being never marry a black woman, and then berated a black woman in the audience who stood up an flipped him off.
‘Now, you would think that Sheryl Underwood — who is so outraged by people saying racist things that she evens imagines them saying it when they haven’t — that when she was confronted with clear evidence on video of her good friend George Lopez saying racist things and abusing a young black woman who then had to leave a venue, that Sheryl would be outraged, but she wasn’t. She defended George Lopez on The Talk four days later,’ said Morgan.
Morgan accused CBS of hypocrisy, after The Talk co-host Sheryl Underwood defended her friend George Lopez in 2017 after he told a joke that Latinos have a ‘rule’ against marrying black women. Above, Underwood and Lopez are seen in 2018
CBS said in a statement confirming Osbourne’s departure: ‘The events of the March 10 broadcast were upsetting to everyone involved, including the audience watching at home’
‘So, there’s a real sickening hypocrisy. I’m staggered Sheryl Underwood’s still on that show,’ said Morgan. ‘But there lies the hypocrisy in the heart of this debate.’
‘I know Sheryl Underwood. I’ve been on that show many times. She knows I’m not a racist. She knows that. So, she deliberately did what she did to create a firestorm with Sharon who defended me passionately,’ he continued.
‘And the one who has to leave is not the person falsely accusing Sharon’s friend of being a racist with no evidence. It’s Sharon for defending me against the fake charge,’ said Morgan.
‘That to me is outrageous. And Americans should be outraged. This is show called “The Talk” and because Sharon talked the truth, not anyone else’s truth or even her truth, just the truth, I hadn’t said racist things, because she said that she had to go. And I found that just so disgraceful,’ he added.
Osbourne, who managed the solo career of her rocker husband Ozzy Osbourne for decades, first gained national fame of her own with the debut of the MTV reality show The Osbournes in 2002.
She went on to become a panelist on America’s Got Talent, alongside Morgan, before joining The Talk in its premier season in 2010.
Before her departure, she had been the last remaining co-host from The Talk’s original lineup.
