Earlier this month, we reported that Marie Osmond was leaving “The Talk” after one season with the CBS talk show. Though she claimed at the time that she was leaving to spend more time with family and to “pursue other projects,” a source is now saying that her departure was prompted by a very different reason.
A source with CBS told Page Six that Osmond’s fellow cohosts hosts Sharon Osbourne and Sheryl Underwood went to CBS executives and threatened to quit unless she was fired.
“Marie did not leave of her own accord, although she was encouraged to spin her departure that way,” the insider said. “Show veterans Sharon and Sheryl threatened to quit unless Marie was canned. They pushed her to quit but when she didn’t, they made an ultimatum to the network.”
The source added that in contrast, Osmond’s fellow co-host Carrie Ann Inaba “pleaded with execs for Marie to stay but she wasn’t successful changing their minds.”
The insider went on to add that this has all backfired on “The Talk,” however.
“Now the show is facing extreme backlash on social media,” the source said. “There are thousands of negative comments flooding their accounts.”
After the show returned for the new seasons, fans made it clear that they wanted Osmond back, saying it is “Not the same without Marie,”
When asked about Osmond’s departure this week, Osbourne simply said, “We’ve had changes. People coming in and going. So we just go with the flow. I have to say that with four [hosts], we’ve got more time to talk.”
This comes weeks after Osmond announced her exit in a brief statement.
“One of the highlights of my year at ‘The Talk’ was working with my dear friend John Redmann, and I’m excited to continue our working relationship on several projects we are developing,” she said. “Also, my husband and I just dropped our last two kids off at college, we looked at each other, laughed and remembered we hadn’t been this alone together since 1982!! So, at this stage of my life, I’m looking forward to spending more time with him and visiting all the kids/grandkids.”
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