Kelly Osbourne has spoken out for the first time about her regret over a viral comment she made about Latinos while on The View.
Osbourne made the controversial remark when she appeared as a guest host on the talk show in 2015 and got into a conversation about Donald Trump, who was only a candidate for US president at the time.
In a clip now seen by millions of people worldwide, Osbourne attempted to call out Trump after he delivered a speech in which he claimed Mexico had sent 'rapists' into the US.
Advert
Hitting back at the president, Osbourne said: "If you kick every Latino out of this country, then who is going to be cleaning your toilet, Donald Trump? You know what I mean?"
Co-host Rosie Perez quickly jumped in to criticize Osbourne's comment, saying: "No, that's not… no. There's more jobs than that in the country for Latinos, and Latinos are not the only people who clean toilets."
Osbourne responded to say she 'didn't mean it like that', and soon after the appearance, she shared a post online saying she would 'take responsibility for [her] poor choice of words'.
Advert
However, she said she would 'not apologize for being racist' as she insisted she wasn't.
Fast forward to this year, and Osbourne, who is now 39-years-old, is still facing criticism as the clip continues to circulate online.
She decided to open up about her comment in an interview with Rolling Stone, describing it as the 'most cringe moment of [her] entire life'.
"Oh my God, I died," she said. "It hurt a lot of people, and that to me, by far makes it the worst thing I’ve ever done.
Advert
"I realized that I’m not great on live TV and that words are so powerful. And to be labeled as something you’re not is really difficult. But it happened. There’s nothing I can do."
Looking back on the video, Osbourne described her past self as a 'self-righteous little c***'.
"I hate it. I hate it so much because I look at it and I’m like, 'You think you know everything and you know nothing. Nobody wants to hear [your] opinion on this'," she said.
With viral TikToks now drawing on her comment to highlight silly stereotypes, Osbourne expressed her gratefulness that 'something so ugly' has been turned into 'something funny'.
Advert
However, while some of the videos are 'very smart', Osbourne said she'd be 'lying' if she said she didn't 'hate [herself] a little bit more' each time she sees the clip.
The singer stressed that her comment 'came out so wrong', and attempted to clarify what she had been trying to say.
“This whole country is built on immigrants, and if you stop people from coming into this country who do the jobs that make this country exist and thrive and flourish, who’s going to do all the jobs that you don’t want to do yourself?” she explained.
Advert
Osbourne also told Rolling Stone that she believes Latin American culture is 'the backbone of America', and expressed hope that people would realize she was 'taking responsibility and trying to mend the hurt'.
"I do deserve a second chance," she said. "But at the same time, I can totally see why people won’t and don’t think that."
Topics: Film and TV, Celebrity, Viral
Emily Brown