SHERYL UNDERWOOD ON ‘TRAUMA’ FROM ON-AIR CONSERVATION WITH SHARON OSBOURNE

Sheryl Underwood Discusses ‘trauma’ From On-Air Conversation with Sharon Osbourne; Elaine Welteroth on ‘false narratives’ and ‘accusations’ + Meghan Markle – THE TALK (4/12)

Monday on “The Talk” host Sheryl Underwood discusses her experience during the emotionally charged, on-air conversation with Sharon Osbourne on March 10, along with expert on diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice Dr. Donald E. Grant. “I didn’t want to escalate things with Sharon, because I thought I was having a conversation with a friend, but also, I knew I had to be an example for others to follow. I didn’t want to be perceived as that angry Black woman, and that really scared me. I didn’t want to be that and I wanted to remain calm and focused. It’s difficult to go back to that day because I just feel the trauma. I feel fearful, a little apprehensive.”

Fellow host Elaine Welteroth adds, “I just want to acknowledge you, Sheryl, on-air for how you handled the situation. I think it’s important for people to really know the strength and willpower it takes to maintain that kind of composure in that situation. And I think for me, I was just really entering that conversation with the hope of finding a common ground and I didn’t feel like I was heard, which saddened me because part of the reason I joined this show with all of these diverse, beautiful, intelligent women was because I thought that we had an opportunity here and I think we do have an opportunity here to have conversations that help show people how to bridge these divides in our country and that we can do it with empathy.” She adds, “So I was hoping to steer the conversation away from a debate about who’s racist, who’s not, what’s racist, what’s not and talk really about what does it mean to be anti-racist because that’s a more productive conversation.”

Elaine Welteroth Says ‘Women See Themselves in Meghan Markle’

 “I think when you go back and watch what happened in that episode, you will see two Black women walking the same tightrope that Black women are walking every single day in the workplace.  As Sheryl said, we knew we had to stay composed in that situation, even in the face of someone who was A, not listening, and B, who went off the rails into disrespect when we were maintaining our respect within the context of this very complex, charged, emotional conversation.” Welteroth adds, “There have been a lot of false narratives that have been spun in the aftermath of what happened on that episode…this is the first time that I have had the opportunity to speak. And I think it’s really important that we have the opportunity to say that the false accusations that are swirling in the press that frame Sheryl and I as some kind of, you know, people who attacked a woman on air, and were part of some sort of, you know, conspiracy, that is absolutely, categorically false.”