At one time or another, every one of us has had that one boss who makes you feel like you’re starring in an unfunny remake of The Office.
However – even in the deepest, darkest depths of my early twenties – I have never experienced the sort of flagrant disregard for my well-being that Sharon Osbourne, 67, apparently shows towards her assistants.
Viewers have long warmed to the TV personality, who was the maternal yet fiery mentor you would have wanted on your side had you been competing on The X Factor circa 2007. However, a recent guest spot on Would I Lie To You has shown a far colder side to the Princess of Darkness…
You can watch the clip for yourself below:
Appearing on the Would I Lie To You? Christmas special, Sharon admitted to ripping an oxygen mask from her assistant’s face; giving it to one of her dogs before sending the assistant back into the burning house to save some artwork.
Telling the tale before her initially disbelieving co-stars, The Osbournes star revealed:
I once sacked a member of my staff because he showed absolutely no sense of humour during a house fire.
The fire began in the living room of the Osbourne residence after she and her husband Ozzy went to bed after leaving a candle lit. The couple were awoken by the fire alarm, and Sharon sent Ozzy downstairs to investigate.
Once downstairs, Ozzy could be heard calling for help as his arm and some of his trademark long hair had set alight. In an attempt to quash the flames, Sharon whacked her Black Sabbath spouse with a magazine before pushing him into a fountain. Then things took an uncomfortable turn.
Appearing to show amusement at the situation, Sharon – who once ranked as the 25th richest woman in Britain on the 2009 Sunday Times Rich List – revealed how she had ordered her assistant to ‘go in and get the paintings out’.
After the assistant understandably refused to risk his life and health for the sake of some paintings, Sharon reportedly scolded him:
How very dare you. You work here and you get more paintings out right now.
She continued:
I took the mask and I put it on my dog. After this terrible night he was not talking to me. Ozzy and I were recounting everything and we were laughing and laughing. He goes, ‘I don’t see what is funny about any of this. I think I’m going to have damaged lungs.’
I said, ‘If you don’t think that’s funny, do you think this is funny? You’re fired.’
Over on Twitter, many viewers have also failed to see the funny side, lambasting Sharon for having apparently revealed a very callous part of her personality.
One person tweeted:
In the spirit of Christmas, Sharon Osbourne has just outed herself as a truly terrible person in Would I Lie To You. Classic.
Another chastised the other celebrity contestants for appearing to laugh at the story:
What’s wrong with you? Laughing with the psychopath Sharon Osbourne like a bunch of tw*ts, while she tells how terribly she treats people.
Seriously – even if you’re working for Miranda Priestly herself – no boss and no job is worth running into a burning building for. Good on this assistant for standing up for himself.
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Jules studied English Literature with Creative Writing at Lancaster University before earning her masters in International Relations at Leiden University in The Netherlands (Hoi!). She then trained as a journalist through News Associates in Manchester. Jules has previously worked as a mental health blogger, copywriter and freelancer for various publications.