Things got a bit intense Wednesday on “The Talk” when the discussion turned to Piers Morgan and his comments about Meghan, Duchess of Sussex.
Co-host Sharon Osbourne is a longtime friend of Morgan, who stormed off the set and left his job on ITV’s “Good Morning Britain” in the wake of allegations that comments he made following Prince Harry and Meghan’s interview with Oprah Winfrey were rooted in racism.
Earlier Osbourne had tweeted her support of Morgan.
”. @piersmorgan I am with you. I stand by you,” she wrote. “People forget that you’re paid for your opinion and that you’re just speaking your truth.”
On her CBS show Wednesday she sought to clarify her stance, saying she neither liked nor agreed with everything Morgan said. “It’s not my opinion,” she said. “Support him for his freedom of speech, and he’s my friend.”
Her co-host Sheryl Underwood, who is Black, pushed back.
“What would you say to people who may feel that while you’re standing by your friend, it appears that you give validation or safe haven to something that he has uttered that is racist, even if you don’t agree?” Underwood asked Osbourne.
That caused Osbourne to get tearful, saying she felt like she was “about to be put in the electric chair because I have a friend,” and ask that Underwood tell her what Morgan said that was racist.
“Educate me, tell me,” Osbourne said.
“It is not the exact words of racism, it’s the implication and the reaction to it,” Underwood said. “To not want to address that because she is a Black woman, and to try to dismiss it or to make it seem less than what it is, that’s what makes it racist.”
Underwood added that Osbourne is her friend and she didn’t want the audience to think they were attacking her as a racist.
Morgan tweeted his appreciation of Osbourne with whom he appeared as a judge on “America’s Got Talent.”
“When stuff like this happens, true friends run towards you, fake friends run away. I love Sharon Osbourne because she always stays true to herself,” he tweeted Wednesday. “She knew she would get abused by the woke brigade for tweeting this - but did it anyway because it what she believes.”