Sheryl Underwood Addresses Sharon Osbourne’s Departure On ‘The Talk’
The Talk returned to the air yesterday after CBS’s investigation led to Sharon Osbourne’s leaving the show.
Sheryl Underwood’s debate about racism with Osbourne led to the investigation and the show’s month-long hiatus. Underwood appeared at the top of the show, addressing the drama from March 10.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxxLFI0Q-U4
Underwood said, “It’s time for an episode of The Talk that will be unlike any other we’ve had before. We haven’t been together at the studio since the week of March 10th and as you may know, during our break, Sharon decided to leave The Talk. We need to process the events of that day and what happened since, so we can get to the healing.”
Underwood is now the longest-running co-host; she’s joined by the fellow Carrie Ann Inaba, Amanda Kloots and Elaine Welteroth. She promised them she would “honestly discuss what occurred” during the dramatic episode, which saw Osbourne defending Piers Morgan for calling Meghan Markle a liar for her claims of racism within the royal family. On Monday’s episode, the ladies were joined by guests Donald E. Grant, an expert on diversity, equity, inclusion and justice, and Anita Phillips, a trauma therapist and life coach to help guide the conversation, Yahoo! Entertainment reports.
Grant was in Osbourne’s old seat, guiding the conversation with a “nervous” Underwood revisiting what happened with Osbourne. She recalled what was supposed to be a conversation with a friend, saying she “didn’t want to escalate things with Sharon.”
She went on to make a point that, “I knew I had to be an example for others to follow because I didn’t want to be perceived as the ‘angry Black woman.’ And that really scared me. I didn’t want to be that. I wanted to remain calm and remain focused. It’s difficult to go back to that day because I just feel the trauma. I feel fearful, a little apprehensive.”
Welteroth acknowledged how Underwood handled the situation, nodding to her “strength and willpower it takes to maintain that kind of composure in that situation” with Osbourne. She also felt like she wasn’t “heard” during the infamous conversation, saying that “saddened me because part of the reason I joined this show with these diverse, beautiful, intelligent women is I thought that we had an opportunity here … to have conversations that help show people how we can bridge these divides in our country and that we can do it with empathy.”
Underwood said she feels like she’s suffering PTSD as a result of the hurtful exchange with Osbourne, “somebody that I love and I trusted.”
