Piers Morgan has launched a passionate defense of his friend and new colleague Sharon Osbourne, regarding her decision to leave American TV show The Talk last year.
The outspoken broadcaster has claimed Sharon, 69, was "cancelled" for tweeting her support of him having an opinion, following the former Good Morning Britain presenter's controversial comments regarding Meghan Markle and her experiences with poor mental health.
Ahead of Sharon's big new TV venture launching next week, Piers claimed that Sharon's defense of him last year made her "basically unemployable".
Piers - who like Sharon, is set to host a new show on Rupert Murdoch's Talk TV - branded her exit from The Talk "disgusting" and once again reiterated his belief he is "entitled" to share his opinions on national TV.
Sharon decided to leave her position on America's version of Loose Women last year, after an on-screen clash with co-host Sheryl Underwood.
Speaking to The Sun ahead of both his and Sharon's shows launching on Monday, Piers said: "I’m particularly delighted about that, because Sharon got cancelled from her show The Talk in America after 10 years, a show that she loved and was the star of, because she tweeted her support for my right to have an opinion."
The dad-of-four added: "She didn’t even agree with the opinion, she just said I was entitled to it, which by the way I was."
Piers then went on to claim that Sharon was branded a "racist sympathiser", after he was called racist for saying on live TV he did not believe the Duchess of Sussex's recollections about her experience with suicidal thoughts during her interview with Oprah Winfrey in March 2021.
"What happened to me was bad, what happened to Sharon was disgusting," Piers added in his latest chat, adding the claim she was "basically made unemployable" by the backlash.
Sharon left her position on The Talk following a heated on-air conversation about race, in addition to accusations of racist comments that led to an internal investigation by CBS.
During the tense conversation regarding Piers, Sharon told a visibly upset co-host Sheryl live on-air: "Educate me, tell me when you have heard him say racist things… I very much feel like I’m about to be put in the electric chair because I have a friend, who many people think is a racist, so that makes me a racist?"
"For me, at 68 years of age to have to turn around and say ‘I ain’t racist’ – what’s it got to do with me? How could I be racist about anybody? How could I be racist about anybody or anything in my life? How can I?"
After the broadcast, the show went on a two week hiatus and Sharon apologised "to anyone of color that I offended" and later quit the show.
"Sharon Osbourne has decided to leave The Talk," CBS said in a statement at the time.
"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.
"We also did not find any evidence that CBS executives orchestrated the discussion or blindsided any of the hosts."
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