‘The Talk’ slammed for rushed Betty White tribute to AVOID clips with Sharon Osbourne
‘The Talk’ has been slammed heavily for not giving a lengthy tribute to the iconic Betty White, who died on December 31, 2021, at her Brentwood, Los Angeles home. White was 99 and died due to natural causes just weeks away from celebrating her 100th birthday. It has been said that the CBS chat show paid a very “rushed” tribute to the late star to avoid playing old clips of her on the show with expelled Sharon Osbourne, who found herself engulfed in controversy last year after an on-air fight with Sheryl Underwood.
According to reports, White had come on the show at least seven times. An insider told The Sun, “The show won't let any clips with Sharon Osbourne in them be aired, as they try to erase the previous history of the show. More effort could have been made to show her respect.” But another source refuted the allegation and added: “This is completely untrue. The Talk has always been a huge fan of Betty, let her rest in peace.”
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The January 3 episode of the show began with hosts Underwood, Natalie Morales, Amanda Kloots, Jerry O’Connell, and Akbar Gbajabiamila talking about their holiday and festive celebrations. After which, they wrote themselves a new year's resolutions note and then went into a section on Janet Jackson.
Eventually, the time came for White’s tribute and Morales said, “We want to take a moment to celebrate the life of the incomparable Betty White. She passed away on Friday, just three weeks shy of her 100th birthday. The comedy legend had been on The Talk seven times and each appearance was just as memorable and special as she was. She truly was a national treasure who will be deeply, deeply missed. We all love you Betty White. Heaven is laughing. And we’ll be right back.”
All of us at #TheTalk are saddened by the passing of the iconic #BettyWhite. She was a once in a lifetime talent and an absolute joy to be around. We send love and prayers to her family and friends. May she rest in peace. ❤️🙏 pic.twitter.com/heUoIdMR14
— The Talk (@TheTalkCBS) December 31, 2021
The show also showed a clip of the ‘Hot in Cleveland’ actress, but it did not include any moment from the time when she came there. The official Twitter and Facebook pages of ‘The Talk’ shared a picture of White with a caption that read, “All of us at #TheTalk are saddened by the passing of the iconic #BettyWhite. She was a once in a lifetime talent and an absolute joy to be around. We send love and prayers to her family and friends. May she rest in peace.”
But people were not happy with the minutes long tribute for the pioneer of early television. An angry user commented on Facebook, “So sad you all had to talk about yourselves so much and rush through the segment on Betty White. I’d much rather hear about her than anything Man Hungry or Silly One had to say. Rest In Peace Betty White.” Another user said, “Love Betty and may she Rest In Peace….but the talk .... that is the worst talk show!... let’s go Brandon!” “It took them a half hour to even mention Betty White for only like a minute. She should've been mentioned at the beginning, but we all know how they have to talk about themselves for the first half hour!!” the third user added.
A person wrote below the Facebook post, “It was the worst tribute, especially for someone that had been a guest on the show so many times…” Another one wrote, “40 minutes into the show and then only talked about the legend for 2 minutes, If that long. But the segment about them went on for 15. Pitiful.” “It was really disrespectful how they treated Betty,” a comment read.