"Once you're accused of it, people tar you with that brush and it's very hard to shake off."
Ozzy Osbourne is defending his wife amid "The Talk" debacle.
The rocker addressed the issue chatting with "Ozzy Speaks" co-host Billy Morrison on Monday, on his dedicated SiriusXM channel Ozzy's Boneyard.
Discussing a song called "Patient Number Nine" from his upcoming album, Ozzy segued by saying the song was about himself and Sharon.
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View Story"You know Sharon, poor old Sharon has been going through the mill lately," he said, shunning his co-host's invitation to sidestep the issue.
"I can tell you if my wife was slightly racist — I'd tell you. She's the possibly the most un-racist person I've ever met. And I'm not just saying that, you know."
Morrison, who has known the couple a quarter century, was in complete agreement.
"It stunned me when it started happening," he offered. "I just... there's other stuff underneath it. 'Cause she's not racist. It's simple as that."
"But she's weathered the storm. She's marching on," Ozzy assured: "But it's still an unpleasant issue. It's one of them things once you're accused of it, people tar you with that brush and it's very hard to shake off."
In a spectacular domino effect that few had likely seen coming, it was Oprah Winfrey's monarchy-shaking interview with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle that ultimately led to Sharon being tarred with said brush; her friend Piers Morgan lashed out at the Duchess of Sussex for criticizing the royal family, who in turn was branded racist for doing so. When Sharon jumped to his defense, she found herself outnumbered among her Talk colleagues. An argument with co-host Sheryl Underwood made for uncomfortable watching, as Sharon angrily dismissed her, while Underwood had to bite her tongue as she consciously tried to avoid being baited into an argument.
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View StoryAlleged skeletons of hateful slurs from Sharon's past subsequently started to emerge, which she vehemently denied. Nevertheless, after a pained hiatus, the show returned to air without her.
"At least it was just another bump in the road. You'll get through this, I suppose," Ozzy mused on Monday.
He said that when such bumps — of which the family has endured many — come along, his reaction is usually "Okay. Yeah."
"'Cause if she got caught doing something that I know that was wrong, I'd go, 'whoa man!'" he shared. "'Cause when Sharon first got the news, she was devastated. She was like, 'why are they saying this about me?'
Despite all this, Ozzy refused to denounce celebrity... or as Morrison phrased it: "Do you ever wish people would just leave you the f--- alone?"
"No," Ozzy replied. "'Cause I'm in the public eye."