(CelebrityAccess) — Sharon Osbourne has stepped away from her post on the long-running CBS morning show The Talk in the wake of a seemingly heated on-air debate on race earlier this month.
The debate, which topped The Talk on March 11, was a contentious 25-minute discussion between Osbourne and her co-host Sheryl Underwood over Osbourne’s support for her friend Piers Morgan, who had previously expressed doubt about statements made by Megan Markle about her time with the royal family.
During the discussion, Osbourne denied she was racist and demanded that Underwood provide instances of moments when Morgan had made racists comments and became visibly upset. She later took to social media to apologize for the incident and claimed that she felt she had been “blindsided” by her co-hosts.
After the episode aired, CBS announced it planned to conduct an internal review and placed production on a temporary hiatus.
Now, after completing the review, CBS released a statement addressing the dispute.
“The events of the March 10 broadcast were upsetting to everyone involved, including the audience watching at home. As part of our review, we concluded that Sharon’s behavior toward her co-hosts during the March 10 episode did not align with our values for a respectful workplace,” CBS said in a statement provided to CNN. “We also did not find any evidence that CBS executives orchestrated the discussion or blindsided any of the hosts.”
In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, Osbourne reiterated that she isn’t a racist.
“I am not a racist and if you can’t have a go at your friend who happens to be Black, does that make me racist because I said certain things to my friend, but I said them on camera?” Osbourne said. “I will keep on apologizing to Sheryl, even if I decide not to go back, I will still keep apologizing to Sheryl.”
Osbourne was the only remaining original cast member from the show’s debut in 2010. Her exit from show was first reported by Deadline.
