Sharon Osbourne has slammed allegations she used racial slurs in an attack on her former The Talk co-host Julie Chen in a fiery new statement.
Osbourne’s U.S. daytime show is currently on hiatus as TV bosses investigate a heated exchange between Sharon and Sheryl Underwood on the programme last week, and now rocker Ozzy Osbourne’s wife is facing a new scandal over racially and gender insensitive comments she has allegedly made in the past.
Former The Talk co-host Leah Remini has reportedly told a New York Post writer she heard the Brit call Asian-American Chen “slanty eyes” and “wonton”, and lesbian sidekick and producer Sara Gilbert “p**sy licker” and “fish eater”.
Osbourne’s publicist, Howard Bragman, told the Post: “The only thing worse than a disgruntled former employee is a disgruntled former talk show host.”
He went on: “For 11 years Sharon has been kind, collegial and friendly with her hosts as evidenced by throwing them parties, inviting them to her home in the U.K. and other gestures of kindness too many to name.”
Noting that Sharon is “disappointed but unfazed” by “the recasting of history and the bitterness coming out at this moment,” he added: “She will survive this, as she always has and her heart will remain open and good, because she refuses to let others take her down.”
Sharon is currently considering whether she’ll return to the show when it returns to TV on Tuesday, after facing criticism for defending Piers Morgan over public comments he made about the Duchess of Sussex’s recent tell-all with Oprah Winfrey.