I knew about Sharon Osbourne's deranged verbal assault on Chris Tarrant, but Marian Yule - who wrote in - supplies so much excellent colour (I didn't know Louis put Chris up to it) that it would be a waste not to post it here ...
Oddly enough, I was at Ricky Gervais's stand-up show yesterday, where he used his encore to tell a story about Sharon Osbourne's, er, unique approach to other people.
Apparently he was sitting with his girlfriend at the back at the recording of the live final [of The X Factor] for the last series, near Chris Tarrant and his daughter, and chef Aldo Zilli and his wife.
As the show was live, every commercial break was filled with a warm-up man taking questions from the audience to be put to the judges.
Chris Tarrant had apparently colluded with Louis Walsh to get to ask a question. He stood up, and started: "Sharon, you're married to an intelligent, articulate man..."
He got no further because Sharon Osbourne started screeching obscenities, including liberal use of the words 'fuck' and 'cunt' - all this just metres away from horrified families with children. She also threw in something along the lines of "No wonder your wife left you, Chris!"
Poor Chris tried to protest in vain that he wasn't about to take the piss out of Ozzy, while Louis mouthed apologies over Sharon's shoulder. Alas, there was no stopping the termagant's ire until the break ended and the show went back again.
At the next commercial break, Sharon stood up and said: "I'd like to apologise to all the mummies and kiddies out there - but you know what it's like when a loved one is attacked, you're like a tigress, aren't you?"
To Gervais's astonishment - this got a round of applause.
Clearly, as long as Sharon plays the 'I'm a mum under pressure, just like you!' card, she can get away with pretty much anything.
8 comments:
How exciting!
May I also recommend to you Colm Toibin's excellently sniffy review of Rupert Everett's Red Carpets and Other Banana Skins in the latest issue of the LRB?
The review also mentions the possibility that Everett had an affair with Ian McKellan after stalking him for some months. Perhaps you can advise me after your experiences with Nicky Haslam and Fish: What is the etiquette on making friends with, and even going out with, your stalker?
Nicky has turned stalkers into fashion accessories. Every person of style should have one. Of course, Nicky was lucky in Fish who is polite and intelligent and young; and he is worldly and not given to over-reacting to life and getting all stressed out by life's little deviations from the script.
I have found that stalker and subject should share the same or similar talent(s) and that the relationship have a mentor/protege(e) quality, for respect should be the basis of worship. To get one's selected mentor into bed is of course a bonus (consider the Warhol/Capote menage: the former started as stalker, progressed to cock-sucker and later lucrative supplier of work and portraits) - for then one's future memoirs have another celeb notch which is useful for the inflation of the advance.
Incidentally, thank you for drawing my attention to the LRB review which I shall read. It sounds unusually gossipy for that publication. Once again, one extends one's compliments to Justine Picardie for turning Rupe's book into such a readable and exciting read. And how excellent of Rupe to provide the raw material for literary rendering by those who can write. I see he is listed as a contributing editor on the Vanity Fair masthead - goodness knows what possessed Graydon to do that - I hear he has a restaurant ... but I must go now, bye bye for now.
Aren't we meant to be talking about Sharon O? 'Mum under pressure' who shops at Asda??? Yeah right. Hopefully her use of shit as revenge will be the end of her. Tarrant should be grateful - at least she didn't do a dump on stage and throw it at him.
But as we're on the subject of Rupert Everett and his book - i've just read it - and loved it. Couldn't put it down for the whole weekend. Which is what it's about really, not what some critic on LRB thinks. It's not going to end up on an A level syllabus, just entertain and give us some insight into someone else's pretty fabulous life. Good on you Rupert!
Na, I don't think she's playing a card and couldn't care less if she was. There was nothing wrong with what she said. Chris can be an arrogant twat at times and evidently he WAS taking the piss out of Ozzy so of course she reacted in that way. As for the children...were their parents not aware of the fact that Sharon likes to swear? Not sure why Gervais was so perplexed either.
"evidently", what evidence do you have? I have Ricky Gervais' word and a declartion of what he saw, what 'evidence' do you have? There is more reason to believe he and Louis Walsh were planning a little harmless joke, but Sharon jumped on him like a fucking lion.
Evidently, don't use the word lightly, you have no evidence the other side does.
Dear Sam, try reading. You'll find it useful. Best MA x
The problem with her "apology" is that she didn't apologise at all. An apology should be unconditional, her behaviour was unprofessional - imagine getting away with a tirade such as that if she were anyone but Sharon Osbourne... Good grief.
If she really meant an apology, she would have apologised to Tarrant and her producers and everyone else at the show, not tried to win their support.
It takes a better person to bear the criticism and condemnation (or better yet, treat it as a serious question...) than it does to lash out at someone and tear them to shreds like that. This is irrespective of Tarrant's intention.
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