Kelly Osbourne reflected on what she called “the most cringe moment” of her “entire life” as she opened up about her controversial comments on The View in 2015.
Osbourne, who was serving as a guest host at the time, took aim at then-GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump after his 2016 campaign announcement speech where he said Mexico was bringing “rapists” to the United States.
“If you kick every Latino out of this country, then who is going to be cleaning your toilet, Donald Trump?” asked Osbourne before she apologised for the remarks later in the same day.
Osbourne told Rolling Stone magazine that the comment “hurt a lot of people” before citing it as by far “the worst thing” she’s ever done.
“I realised that I’m not great on live TV and that words are so powerful. And to be labelled as something you’re not is really difficult,” Osbourne said.
“But it happened. There’s nothing I can do.”
She explained that it was a “really, really hard time” in her life, adding that she had just been in rehab, her father, Ozzy Osbourne, cheated on her mother, Sharon Osbourne, she was drinking to “numb the pain” and described herself as a “trash can when it came to drugs.”
She said, “And I was a really broken, scared person. And then after that event, it kind of kick-started me taking a long, hard look at myself and the things that I don’t like and the things that I’d like to change and the things that I’d like to keep.”
Osbourne said she’s since found that “nobody wants to hear from a white person about race” when asked what she’s learned in the wake of the controversy and her mother’s departure from The Talk following a heated on-air debate back in 2021.
“No one. They don’t. I learned that the hard way. Like I said, it is time for us to accept the change that’s happening and embrace it and support it rather than being scared and feeling like someone’s taking something away from you,” Osbourne said.
“Everybody is entitled to their opinion, but like I said, it’s time to sit down and shut up. If you’re not supporting it, shut up.”
The clip of the “Latino” remarks has since resurfaced on TikTok and been the subject of memes, something Osbourne said she’s aware of.
“But to see people be creative with it does put a smile on my face,” she said. “It turns something so ugly into something funny.”