Julie Chen Says Sharon Osbourne’s Exit from ‘The Talk’ Was ‘a Horrible Mess’: ‘It Was Watching a Trainwreck’

Julie Chen Moonves talks about her former co-host, Sharon Osbourne.

More than two years after Osbourne (70) left Conversation following backlash for her on-air defense of her friend Piers Morgan, Chen Moonves, 53, broke her silence on the dramatic turn of events.

In response to a question posed by fans on Tuesday Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, Chen Moonves said of Osbourne’s departure, “I think the whole thing was handled really horribly. It was very sad to see.”

Host Andy Cohen also jumped in with his thoughts, as he expressed confusion as to why the issues weren’t addressed on air. “It is a performance of the so-called Conversation. I thought they should have gone on and talked about it.”

Chen Moonves, who served as moderator for the panel series for eight years before her departure in 2018, added of Osbourne’s departure: “The whole thing was a terrible mess. It was watching a train wreck.”

She also revealed when she last spoke to Osbourne, saying it was around eight months before the British TV personality left the show. Chen Moonves said she reached out “because I saw the picture [Sharon’s daughter Kelly Osbourne] she looked really healthy and beautiful and I reached for her.”

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Sheryl Underwood, Sara Gilbert, Sharon Osbourne, Eve and Julie Chen, hosts of ‘The Talk’ in 2015.

Sonja Flemming/CBS via Getty Images

Both former hosts Conversation abruptly left CBS’s long-running panel series.

Chen Moonves stepped down in September 2018, saying she needed to “spend more time at home with my husband and our young son.” At the time, her husband Les Moonves was accused of sexual misconduct by several women and was fired as CBS chairman and CEO. (Chen Moonves stood by her husband, whom she married in 2004, and described him in statement as “a good man and a loving father,” adding “I fully support my husband.”)

She has since been revealed in her new audio memoir, But first, God, that her exit from the CBS daytime show was her decision. “It was a difficult time,” she said Good morning America on Monday. “I felt stabbed in the back. I was, you know.”

‘The Talk’s Sheryl Underwood Reflects On Former Co-Host Sharon Osbourne: ‘I Miss Her’

As for Osbourne, her time as host of the panel ended in 2021. Trouble began when she defended Piers Morgan’s controversial remarks questioning the validity of Meghan Markle’s discussion of mental health during her and Prince Harry’s sit-down with Oprah Winfrey.

In response, her co-host Sheryl Underwood took issue with Osbourne’s defense of the British journalist, and the two got into a heated and emotional exchange live on air. “The fact that you don’t even want to consider it [Meghan Markle’s] wanting to end her own life is related to her race, that firing makes the situation racist,” Underwood, 59, told her co-host during the debate.

Sharon Osbourne in ‘The Talk’ 2021.

Monty Brinton/CBS via Getty Images

Osbourne later apologized for her defense of her friend, saying she “panicked, blindsided, got defensive” after she was “accused of being a racist”. The allegations against Osbourne were then made by one of the original presenters ConversationHolly Robinson Peete, who said, “I’m old enough to remember when Sharon complained I was too ‘ghetto’ for #theTalk…then I disappeared,” in twitter.

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CBS launched an internal investigation into the matter and Osbourne eventually left the show.

In a statement, CBS said, “The events of the March 10 broadcast were upsetting for everyone involved, including the audience watching at home. As part of our review, we concluded that Sharon’s behavior toward her hosts during the March 10 episode is inconsistent with our values ​​for a respectful workplace.”

Underwood stays Conversation, with co-hosts Akbar Gbaja-Biamila, Amanda Kloots, Natalie Morales and Jerry O’Connell. The 14th season of the show is currently on hiatus due to the current Hollywood writers and actors strike.

Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen airs Sunday through Thursday evenings on Bravo

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Source: HIS Education