Piers Morgan slams Sheryl Underwood over Sharon Osbourne’s The Talk exit 'Double standard'

Piers Morgan, 55, has hit out at Sheryl Underwood, 57, following Sharon Osbourne’s decision to quit her role on The Talk. Sharon, 68, left the CBS show after she controversially defended Piers when his comments about Meghan Markle on Good Morning Britain sparked backlash. 

Piers has now claimed the reaction towards Sharon shows an “outrageous double standard” in comparison to how her former co-star Sheryl was treated following her controversial comments in the past.

It comes after Sheryl was seen defending comedian George Lopez after he called a black woman a “b***h” and joked that the number one rule in the Latino community is “don’t marry somebody black”.

George made the comment in an on-stage rant during a show in Phoenix, Arizona, in February 2017, before hitting out at an audience member for reacting negatively to his comments.

In an episode of The Talk, which aired four days later, Sheryl supported the comedian – telling co-hosts: “I would have said, ‘b***h, that’s why nobody’s going to marry you cause you talking in my show’.”

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Referencing Sheryl’s remarks, Piers fumed in his latest column: “In other words, the black female victim of the sickening abuse had it coming for reacting badly to a disgusting racist slur and deserved all the abuse she got.

“It’s hard to imagine a more shameful thing to say on national television but Ms Underwood was applauded for it by the audience and suffered no disciplinary action from her CBS bosses.”

He then pointed out that Sharon left The Talk because of the outrage caused by her row with Sheryl over his criticism of the Duchess of Sussex’s revelations from her interview with Oprah Winfrey.

CBS said in a statement about Sharon’s departure: “The events of the March 10 broadcast were upsetting to everyone involved, including the audience watching at home. 

 

Piers went on to add: “Sharon Osbourne was entitled to defend me without being deemed a racist.

“The fact we’ve both lost our jobs is not just an appalling attack on free speech, but it’s also a terrible indictment of woke cancel culture bulls**t and the stinking hypocrisy that lies at the heart of it.”

During the chat with Oprah, Meghan spoke about how she was unhappy in the royal family, her own mental health struggles, and experiences of racism.

Piers then made comments on Good Morning Britain claiming he did not believe her, which led to more than 57,000 complaints to Ofcom.

Sharon defended her friend on the March 10 show of The Talk and was accused of validating racism.

Her co-host Sheryl Underwood said to her: “What would you say to people who may feel that, while you’re standing by your friend, it appears that you gave validation or safe haven to something that he has uttered that is racist, even if you don’t agree?”

Sharon responded: “I feel even 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.”

Following complaints from viewers, Sharon apologised to “anyone of colour that I offended and/or to anyone that feels confused, or let down by what I said”.

source: express.co.uk