Sharon Osbourne denies Meghan Markle is Black in damning resurfaced clip
Sharon Osbourne’s co-hosts reacted in shock to her comments. (CBS)
A resurfaced clip of Sharon Osbourne refusing to acknowledge Meghan Markle as Black has sparked further backlash against the host of The Talk.
Osbourne has come under fire in recent days for the aggressive manner in which she defended her friend Piers Morgan against allegations of racism, and has subsequently been forced to deny claims she made racist comments about co-stars on her daytime show The Talk.
Now, a clip has emerged of Osbourne disparaging Meghan in October 2018. The clip begins with The Talk co-host Sheryl Underwood saying Prince Harry’s wife had “brought Blackness to the Royal Family”.
But Osbourne retorted: “She ain’t Black.”
When Underwood and another host insisted that Meghan is Black, Osbourne said: “Yeah, I know, but she doesn’t look Black.” She insisted that Meghan doesn’t appear Black “to anybody”.
5. In 2018, Sharon Osbourne said on The Talk re Meghan Markle: “she ain’t black.”
When told by her co-hosts that Meghan Markle is indeed Black (her mother is Black), Sharon says “Yeah, I know…but she doesn’t look Black.” pic.twitter.com/5JXkfRD7RI
— Yashar Ali ? (@yashar) March 14, 2021
Rapper Eve, who was on the segment, was quick to point out: “Black people come in all different colours. That’s a whole other different discussion about how Black you look or not … that’s a whole discussion we don’t need to have.”
CBS, which airs The Talk, has been urged to critically examine Osbourne’s history of controversial statements.
On Twitter, it was suggested Osbourne “needs a serious class on racial sensitivity”. One user wrote:
@TheTalkCBS Really? Sharon Osbourne needs a serious class on racial sensitivity. When told by her co-hosts that Meghan Markle is indeed Black (her mother is Black), Sharon says "Yeah, I know…but she doesn't look Black." pic.twitter.com/dIYTn7F07M
(https://t.co/dlxuWmfCeG)— Pam Ranberg (@PamRanberg) March 16, 2021
One person said that the clip of Osbourne deciding Meghan “isn’t actually Black…proved just how garbage she is”.
That time Sharon Osbourne decided Meghan Markle isn't actually Black?
Proved just how garbage she is. pic.twitter.com/mixqlQTJ1Q— Biologically Black Bianca (@RealKHiveQueenB) March 17, 2021
The clip’s emerged after The Talk announced it would go on hiatus until Tuesday (23 March) as pressure mounts for Osbourne to be reprimanded.
She was accused of “weaponising her whiteness” while defending Piers Morgan, aggressively telling co-host Sheryl Underwood not to cry and declaring: “I’m not racist and neither is Piers racist.”
She later issued a public apology on Twitter saying she was “panicked” and “blindsided”, and allowed her “fear and horror of being accused of being racist to take over” while she was on the show.
Osbourne was then forced to deny claims made in an article by journalist Yashar Ali published a condemnatory article that she had a history of making racist and homophobic slurs on the set of The Talk. He cited 11 sources, including former The Talk co-host Leah Remini, as substantiating the claims.
The article alleged Osbourne “frequently refer to then-co-host Julie Chen, who is Chinese American, as ‘wonton’ and ‘slanty eyes'”. It also stated that Osbourne would refer to her former co-host and executive producer Sara Gilbert, who is a lesbian, as “p***y licker” and “fish eater”.
Osbourne’s publicist Howard Bragman denied the claims in Ali’s article. He said that Osbourne 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”.
