Sheryl Underwood is sharing how she felt after Sharon Osbourne's heated exchange with her on The Talk.
Earlier this week, tension erupted on the daytime talk show after the 68-year-old star defended Piers Morgan following his controversial remarks about Meghan Markle's bombshell interview with Oprah.
The co-hosts' conversation immediately went south on Wednesday, March 10, with Sharon saying, "I very much feel like I'm about to be put in the electric chair because I have a friend, who many people think is a racist, so that makes me a racist?"
"It was not the exact words of racism, it's the implications and reaction to it," Sheryl explained. "To not want to address that she is a Black woman and to try to dismiss it or to make it seem less than what it is, that's what makes it racist."
"Right now," she went on, "I'm talking to a woman who I believe is my friend and I don't want anybody here to watch this and say that we're attacking you for being racist."
Sharon responded, "It's too late. I think that seed's already sowed."
However, following the nerve-wracking moment on The Talk, Sheryl opened up about the "blessing" she realized came out of that conversation.
Speaking to Steve Harvey on his eponymous podcast on March 12, she said, "I think that this is about discipline. It's about restraint and being a better me. Because you wake up every day...and everybody—especially people of color—go through this all the time, there's just no cameras pointing at you. Nobody gets to see it, nobody knows it."
"And today was my day and I accept the blessing of the lesson," she shared. "I accept that."
Sheryl then noted that Piers has been on The Talk before. She even recalled the British host bringing up Meghan Markle during his most recent appearance.
"I believe [Piers] said something, like, it's not about race. And I said, yes it is, yes it is," Sheryl told Steve. "It's about her being Black and that's why you're treating her like that. I love you, but you're wrong for that right there."
Following Piers' backlash over his Meghan remarks and his subsequent Good Morning Britain exit, Sheryl explained that she felt the topic would be discussed on the CBS show.
"The first thing I'm thinking...I'm about to have a conversation on a show that I've been on since season two. This is season 11," Sheryl recalled. "Been there 10 years. I never thought in my mind what was going to happen...that this was going to go left like this. I thought we were just going to have a conversation."
"But I thank God," she added, "I thank God for what the Lord let me see and the conversations that are being had and the power that is being coalesced. Because the world needs to see what people have to go through and that restraint...I can say right now is peace be still because I had to fix my face."
Sheryl said she's been getting a lot of love following the heated exchange on March 10.
"I want people to know this, I believe that God was telling me, 'I have a plan for you. I am about to pour down a blessing upon you. I just need to know, are you ready?'" she said, adding, "... And I just wanted to be a better example for people who are working a regular old job that [have] to compose themselves. We are the only race of people that carry the race with us wherever we go and we're responsible for that, and I want to thank everybody all over the world on social media, everybody in radio, television, news, everybody that reached out."
Sheryl isn't the only one to comment on the show's incident. On March 12, Sharon issued an apology for the way she handled things, saying, she "panicked, felt blindsided, got defensive" and allowed her "fear & horror of being accused of being racist take over."
Sharon spoke to Variety later that day and explained she felt "blindsided by the whole situation."
"I blame the network for it," she told the outlet. "In my 11 years, this was the first time I was not involved with the planning of the segment...I was just so hurt, caught off-guard and stunned by what I was being asked and not prepared."
She added, "I was honestly in shock. I felt like I was in front of a firing squad. I felt like a lamb held out for slaughter...They had me there for 20 minutes."
E! News has reached out to CBS and The Talk for comment on Sharon's claims and we have yet to receive a response.
The network did, however, tell E! News on Friday, March 12, "We are committed to a diverse, inclusive and respectful workplace. All matters related to the Wednesday episode of The Talk are currently under internal review."