Now that Sharon Osbourne and The Talk have parted ways, perhaps the reality star, TV host, and music manager will be free of drama. Of course, over the past few weeks, she's been in nothing but drama due to her friendship with Piers Morgan and the fact that she defended his right to free speech, even though she didn't actually agree with his highly publicized criticism of Meghan Markle. This escalated into a very uncomfortable conversation on The Talk about racism with her co-host, Sheryl Underwood. It was followed by a prolonged hiatus by CBS and ultimately Sharon being forced to quit the show altogether.
Everyone on the up-and-up has an opinion about the subject including the legendary Howard Stern. Given Howard's history with Sharon, it made sense that he commented. But where exactly did his opinion fall?
Howard And The Royals And His History With Sharon
Like everyone, Howard Stern also had an opinion about Harry and Meghan's interview with Oprah. Basically, he totally understood that Meghan had experienced racism from the royal family. But given who the royal family is and what the monarchy and has done throughout history, accusations of racism were anything but surprising. He also just couldn't connect with either of them, particularly because these outlandishly rich and privileged individuals were begging for sympathy during a global pandemic where most people are worried about putting food on the table. Regardless, he watched it and was entertained.
However, he had some other feelings about what went down with Sharon Osbourne after the fact.
Of course, Howard and Sharon worked together as judges on America's Got Talent and Sharon has been on The Howard Stern Show numerous times. In fact, the two of them consider each other friends and have publically spoken very highly of each other.
But how did Sharon's situation with Piers Morgan, the royals, and The Talk, affect Howard's opinion?
When Howard first addressed the Sharon Osbourne situation, it was when he was discussing Meghan and Prince Harry's interview with Oprah. It was during the March 22 episode of his SiriusXM radio show, and it didn't seem as though Howard wanted to get into it. After all, anyone who voices too strong of an opinion on any of this gets lampooned with a backlash of some sort.
"[Piers] got on the air and he said that he thought Meghan Markle was a liar. How he knows this, I don't know," Howard Stern said, recapping the whole situation that got Piers accused of racism. "And then, Sharon Osbourne said, 'I know Piers. I like him. And I don't think he's a racist'. And then she got into a fight with Sheryl on The Talk where you're supposed to talk about stuff and keep it real and be honest."
Howard went on to say that he didn't understand why Sharon was getting so much flak for talking about her feelings on a show actually called 'The Talk'. But since it was early days, he didn't say much else about it.
Two days later, Howard and his co-host, Robin Quivers, spoke about the royal interview with Oprah again.
"Everybody was told to watch the [interview] because it was going to be what everybody was talking about. But then everybody who has talked about it has been fired, or had to walk off their show, or apologized," Robin Quivers remarked on-air.
"Yeah. It's unbelievable!" Howard laughed.
Howard Thinks CBS Unjustly Ruined Sharon's Career
When it was revealed that Sharon Osbourne wouldn't be returning to The Talk, Howard decided to talk more about it on-air. In particular, he and Robin were blown away by Sharon's claim that she wasn't given a run-down on what was going to be in the segment that ultimately got her axed from the show. Sharon said was completely caught by surprise with the line of questioning about Piers while all of her co-hosts knew precisely what was happening.
"They ganged up on her," Howard said.
"She said she was set-up by CBS," Robin added. "She had not prepared herself. So then, in the moment, she offended every one."
"The show is called 'The Talk', but you better not say too much," Howard laughed. "God forbid somebody gives a real opinion."
Howard continued by saying that people can get into arguments when people express themselves. He then said that CBS made a big mistake by punishing Sharon the way they did.
"The big thing that [Sharon] said that offended everyone was, at least what I heard, was 'And Don't cry'," Robin explained of what Sharon said to Sheryl during their heated argument. "They had [Sharon] on [the show] because she was outspoken [and they fired her for it]."
While Howard said that nobody on The Talk was nearly as interesting as Sharon, he admitted that her career may be over. In fact, he said that it was a good thing that CBS was paying her a massive severance because "they more or less ruined her career".
After reading the statement released by CBS after Sharon's departure, which included how everyone involved with The Talk had to go through 'listening sessions' to be more considerate of each other, Howard made his best argument about what had gone...
"[Former CBS president] Les Moonves was f****** chicks at work and he didn't have to go to a 'listening session'. Sharon Osbourne said she likes Piers Morgan and now everyone has to go to 'listening sessions'," Howard laughed. "It's so stupid. I mean, Sharon said some stuff. You might not like her attitude. You might not even have liked her opinion. But it's kind of what talking is. There are people who see the world completely differently than you do. And you got to accept it. I think the healthiest thing would have been to have the show the next day and talk about exactly this. And it might have been good."