INTERVIEW
Sharon Osbourne chats to Closer about how it felt to be cancelled for defending her friend Piers Morgan, as well as the secret to her and Ozzy’s long-lasting marriage
One of the most candid celebrities out there, Sharon Osbourne is unafraid to open up about any topic, whether it be her volatile marriage to rocker Ozzy Osbourne, her three children – Aimee, Kelly and Jack – and their growing families, or her relationship with her body. As Sharon herself admits, “I’ve always been a magnet for drama”.
CONTROVERSIAL
That ride-or-die attitude led to her being publicly dragged for defending Piers Morgan – a friend since 2007 when the pair worked together on America’s Got Talent – after the controversial presenter stated he did not believe some of Meghan Markle’s claims in her and Harry’s infamous interview with Oprah Winfrey. The 2021 backlash from Piers’ comments, which were deemed “racist” by Sharon’s co-host Sheryl Underwood, culminated in Sharon leaving daytime show The Talk as a panel member and later claiming she had been “cancelled” in the US.
Speaking about that time, Sharon, 71, tells Closer, “I went into eight months of therapy after that. Ozzy and I didn’t leave the house for two months because we were getting death threats. It was huge. You say one thing and it’s a seed, and that seed grows into a bloody big tree. The internet is judge, jury and executioner. It was insanity and the ugliest thing I’ve ever been through. I’m blacklisted.”
She continues, “It was a hard pill to swallow as I had worked with all of those people for so long. I was there 11 years, and they were my friends.”
More recently, Sharon hit headlines for admitting that she had attempted suicide after learning of Ozzy’s four-year affair with stylist Michelle Pugh from 2012 to 2016. Despite splitting temporarily, the pair eventually got back together, celebrating their 40th anniversary two years ago. Now, Sharon tells Closer the secret to their long-lasting relationship.
“I love him –it’s simple,” she explains. “I understand him and why he does the things that he does. And I’ve always felt I couldn’t have had a career without his talent, so it takes two. The combination has worked and still does.
“I know him so well. It takes years and years to know someone and I know him inside out and he does me. I’m as difficult to live with as he is.”
Ozzy, 75, and Sharon met in 1970 through Sharon’s dad, music manager Don Arden – who worked for Ozzy’s band Black Sabbath – eventual
