Sharon Osbourne says she underwent ketamine therapy after The Talk exit and racism claims

‘I definitely went through a difficult patch,’ says star

Sharon Osbourne has spoken out about the aftermath of her departure from The Talk.

Osbourne left The Talk in March after a heated debate with her former co-host Sheryl Underwood.

During the incident, Osbourne had defended her friend and fellow broadcaster Piers Morgan over his controversial criticism of Meghan Markle.

This led to a clash with Underwood, who said Osbourne was giving “validation” to “racist views” in her support of Morgan.

Osbourne reacted strongly to the suggestion, claiming she felt like she was “about to be put in the electric chair”.

Broadcaster CBS later said Osbourne’s behaviour towards Underwood “did not align with our values for a respectful workplace”.

In a new interview with DailyMailTV, Osbourne said: “It was as if I had gone in there with a machine gun and threatened to kill somebody. It wasn’t like I was coming in with T-shirts, with horrible slogans. I didn’t come in with a white hood, I don’t tell jokes about religion or colour.”

She added: “It was a freedom of speech matter. It was pure freedom of speech. A journalist friend of mine who wrote something that people didn’t like and then a few crazies out there go – ‘You must be racist, that’s why you’re saying it’ – about my friend Piers. It’s like, come on.”

Osbourne said she was forced to hire 24/7 security due to death threats against her, her family and their animals.

“I definitely went through a difficult patch at the beginning. I found it embarrassing. The humiliation that people would think that I might be a racist,” she said.

“I went through three months of therapy. I had ketamine treatment and I got it all out. All the tears and everything that I felt, you know. All of that, it’s gone.”

Ketamine treatments are sometimes used in the US to treat patients with depression.

Speaking about her thoughts on how CBS handled the matter, Osbourne continued: “They didn’t cut because they liked the controversy and they liked that everybody would be talking about this because they needed something for the show that was going into the toilet. So they thought, ‘Well, she’s got the biggest following. Let’s go for her.’

“I felt totally betrayed, not protected by CBS. I felt used. I felt like an old shoe... They didn’t care. It was a set up and it was set up by one of the executives.”