Sheryl Underwood Speaks Out After Sharon Osbourne's 'The Talk' Exit

The 'Talk' co-host opens up about Osbourne's departure from the talk show after their conversation last month.

Sheryl Underwood is speaking out for the first time since Sharon Osbourne exited The Talk after 11 seasons.

In a three-part episode of her The World According to Sheryl podcast, titled "Sharon Walks Away," Underwood told her co-hosts, Courtney Black, Vic Frost, and Kyle Erby, that she has not spoken to Osbourne since their heated debate.

"I regret that it happened because sometimes in life something happens and you just go, 'Gosh, if I just would've.' There's nothing that I could have 'just would've.' This was going to happen, out of my control," the 57-year-old comedian said of the fallout from the March 10 episode. "And coming back on Monday, April the 12, in this situation, I know a lot of people are looking for a lot of things…And to me, the situation now, we're learning a lot about ourselves now."

When asked if she had communicated with Osbourne since their discussion, Underwood blatantly stated, "No," touching on Osbourne's claims about reaching out to her. "The issue for me, it's about trust and I don't want to add to the chatter in a negative way."

CBS announced that Osbourne would be departing the daytime talk show in late March after a heated discussion about racism on The Talk. Osbourne's defense of her longtime friend, Piers Morgan -- and his controversial comments about Meghan Markle -- sparked an argument between herself and her co-hosts. Osbourne said that Morgan had a right to express his opinion, while Underwood argued that "he doesn't want to understand how Meghan was treated was racism."

Osbourne later apologized on Twitter "to anyone of color that I offended and/or to anyone that feels confused or let down by what I said." The show was then put on hiatus, pending an investigation.

As for Underwood's initial reaction to Osbourne stepping away from The Talk, she said, "There was part of me that felt she had to do the best for her and her family. She had to do the best for her life and I do think that a lot of people, a few people was like, 'You a sucker. You're still wishing her well.'"

Amid The Talk debate, that same week Holly Robinson Peete claimed that Osbourne was one of the reasons she was fired from The Talk after one season and accused her former co-host of calling her "too ghetto." Leah Remini also accused Osbourne of calling her "ghetto," and making racial and gender slurs toward Julie Chen and Sara Gilbert in a story published by journalist Yashar Ali. Osbourne denied all the allegations made by her former co-hosts.

Considering Osbourne a friend, Underwood said that when she joined The Talk, "We were fast friends," adding that she loves her family. "I automatically just fell in love with her because I just like her. And I heard things and I was like, 'They got nothing to do with me.' My thing is I'm going to get to know you first."

"I still love the Osbournes, from what I've known of them," she said. "I don't know anything other than what I've experienced with them, and this thing that has happened is disappointing to me. And maybe people don't want to hear me say, 'I still love the Osbournes.'"

"I'm not saying I liked being treated the way I was treated. Let me be clear," Underwood added. "I'm very disappointed, and I'm just trying to navigate my feelings about that because it was a trauma."

Above all else, Underwood admitted that she was disappointed "that it happened," but it has been a learning lesson. The Talk will return from its pre-scheduled hiatus with original episodes on Monday, April 12.

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