Former reality TV star Sharon Osbourne, wife of musician Ozzy Osbourne, sparked a wave of negative reactions on social media when she revealed to have once fired her assistant after sending him into a burning mansion to retrieve some artwork.
According to The Sun, Osbourne made her confession during an appearance on the BBC Christmas special “Would I Lie To You?,” wherein she recalled the unfortunate fire that happened in her and Ozzy’s mansion on Christmas while the assistant slept in the guest house.
“I thought, right, where is that assistant? So I go into the guest house, and he’s like: ‘Is everything alright?’ and I’m like: ‘No, the house is on fire, get out and help, go in and get the paintings out,'” Osbourne recalled on the show. “And I said: ‘You must go in and find the dogs.'”
The assistant did as he was told and saved the dogs, per Sharon’s orders. When firefighters arrived, they gave him an oxygen mask, which she then took from him and ordered him to run back into the mansion.
“They came and they had this oxygen for the assistant,” recalled Osbourne. “So I said: ‘How very dare you. You work here. You get more paintings out.'”
Later, as Ozzy and Sharon were laughing about the incident, the assistant could not share in their mirth, which prompted her to fire him.
“Well, after this terrible night, he was not talking to me,” she said. “Ozzy and I were recounting everything, we were laughing and laughing, and [the assistant] said: ‘I don’t see what’s funny about any of this.'”
“He said: ‘I think I’m going to have damaged lungs,'” she continued. “I mean, please. So then I just said: ‘If you don’t think that’s funny, do you think this is funny? You’re fired.'”
Here’s the shocking footage of Sharon Osborne laughing about making an assistant go into her burning home, removing an oxygen mask from him and then firing him the next day for not finding it funny.
Everyone laughs when she says it's a true story. pic.twitter.com/J9ToGPmUHR
— Benjamin Butterworth (@benjaminbutter) December 26, 2019
Fans of the show promptly began trolling Sharon Osbourne on social media, claiming her behavior during the incident and her casual recalling of it was disgraceful.
“You are a disgrace of a human being if that story you told about sending a member of staff into a burning building is true! You disgust me,” said one Twitter user.
“[Sharon Osbourne] has just [outed] herself as a horrible person,” said another user.
“So it seems it’s acceptable for the rich and famous to abuse, bully staff and then boast about it for laughs …” another person angrily tweeted.
“Fact: [Sharon Osbourne] is a f***ing monster,” another tweeted. “God, I’m with the assistant on this one! Did his job, saved the f***ing paintings and her dogs. She goes ahead and tries get him killed out of entitled pettiness, has him fired for making a valid point, and have the audacity to laugh.”
“Then fire them for not finding the situation funny. I hope they sue for everything!” another tweeted.
“The callous attitude of [Sharon Osbourne] is just too much and the fact everyone else found it funny leaves me worried about the morality of the audience and other panel members,” said another.
Sharon Osbourne has not commented on the backlash.