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Sharon Osbourne Claims She Received Death Threats After Being Fired From ‘The Talk’ Amid Controversy: ‘This Is Insanity’

On the outs. Sharon Osbourne is opening up one year after her exit from The Talk, claiming her career took a major hit amid the backlash.

Related: Every 'The Talk' Host Through the Years and Why They Left

“They said to me, ‘You are on permanent suspension. We don’t think that you’re repentant enough. And we will decide whether you ever come back,'” the 69-year-old TV personality recalled during a recent interview with The Sunday Times, reflecting on being fired from the CBS daytime series. “And I said, ‘Well, who’s going to make that decision?’ And they said, ‘We can’t tell you.'”

Osbourne joined The Talk in 2010, and her controversial departure from the show seemingly slowed other offers from coming in. “My phone as far as my TV career [in America was concerned] was nonexistent, not one call. Nothing,” she said. “In England and Australia, it never changed. Here it was like I was dead.”

Sharon Osbourne Hired 24/7 Security After 'Talk' Firing: It Was 'Insanity'
Sharon Osbourne. Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock

The former X Factor judge went on to claim that she was forced to hire 24/7 security in the wake of the scandal, alleging, “[People] were saying they were going to come in the night, cut my throat, cut Ozzy’s throat, cut my dogs’ throats. … I just couldn’t stop crying because all I was thinking about was all the things that I’ve gone through in my life, and now they’re calling me a racist. This is insanity.”

Related: All the Drama! The Biggest Controversies, Feuds in Talk Show History

In March 2021, the former Celebrity Apprentice contestant came under fire while she and her then-cohosts were discussing Prince Harry and Meghan Markle‘s CBS sit-down, during which they accused the royal family of racist behavior. Osbourne defended her friend Piers Morgan‘s take on the drama, but Sheryl Underwood believed supporting the broadcaster, 57, was “validation” of the “implications” of Morgan’s remarks.

“I feel like I’m about to be put in the electric chair because I have a friend who many people think is racist, so that makes me a racist,” the Extreme author replied. “For me, at 68 years of age, to have to turn around and say, ‘I ain’t racist, what’s it gotta do with me?'”

After the televised conflict, Osbourne apologized “to anyone of colour that I offended,” writing, “I panicked, felt blindsided, got defensive and allowed my fear and horror of being accused of being racist take over.”

Former panelists Holly Robinson Peete and Leah Remini later accused Osbourne of making racially insensitive comments behind the scenes of The Talk. The network conducted an internal investigation as the show took a brief hiatus, later announcing that the U.K. native would not be returning to the set.

Related: Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne’s Relationship Timeline

Osbourne’s publicist, Howard Bragman, denied the allegations on her behalf at the time. “Sharon is disappointed but unfazed and hardly surprised by the lies, the recasting of history and the bitterness coming out at this moment,” a statement read. “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. She thanks her family, friends and fans for standing by her and knowing her true nature.”

In her first interview after being axed from the series, the Osbournes alum told Bill Maher that she was “hurt” and “angry” about what went down. “I’ve been called so many things in my life … but a racist is one thing I will not take,” she said in April 2021.

One year after the controversy, Osbourne is still thrown by what happens “when people turn on you en masse” in the public eye. “Everybody’s scared of saying something wrong that somebody would take and sell,” she told The Sunday Times, revealing that she and husband Ozzy Osbourne were leaving Los Angeles behind. “It’s no way to bloody live. I don’t want it. I don’t need it. … It’s just our time to go home. I don’t want to be judged.”

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