Sharon Osbourne Slammed After Firing Assistant Who Saved Her Dogs From Fire

Sharon Osbourne is receiving significant backlash for relating the story of how she ended up firing her husband's assistant after a house fire. He almost died and didn't find it funny enough for the star.

Sharon Osbourne, 67, appeared to many to be unaware of what it means to treat others with respect and empathy when she shared a story on BBC's "Would I Lie To You?" last week.

During a Christmas special of the show, Sharon recalled the time her house — and husband — caught on fire. The video clip from the show is found below.

The story

Sharon recounted how she used a fountain to put out a fire on her husband's arm and hair. She then went to get her assistant in the guest room, already angry he wasn't at the house yet.

She demanded he go into the burning house to get her paintings as well as her two dogs. Eventually, fire personnel arrived to assist. They gave everyone a mask, but Sharon refused the former assistant his.

She continued: "So then I said to him, 'How very dare you, you work here, and you get more paintings out right now.' I took the mask, and I put it on my dog."

The firing

The next day, Sharon noticed that the assistant was not speaking to her. At one point, she and Ozzy were laughing about the night before. The assistant exclaimed that he didn't see anything funny about it.

He added that they might have damaged lungs. That's when Sharon asked the man if he saw something funny about "this." The man asked, "What?" and Sharon told him he was fired.

As Sharon told her story, the audience and judges all found it hilarious. Of course, they didn't yet know whether it was true at all. Ultimately, all three judges guessed it was true, and Sharon confirmed they were right.

Fan reactions

With that, viewers took to Twitter to express how deeply disturbing they found the clip. "If this is what @MrsSOsbourn admits to on prime time television, what else has she done to staff?" one person wondered.

Another user noted the timing, writing in part: "In the spirit of Christmas, Sharon Osbourne has just outed herself as a truly terrible person." Others stated that Sharon has always been terrible.

Someone else wrote a similar comment, then zoomed in on the part of the story in which Sharon took the assistant's oxygen mask and sent them back in. "I hope they sue for everything!" the person said.

Contestant's input

In response to a message of outrage, one of the "Would I Lie To You" contestants, Ranj Singh, responded that the full picture of the reactions was not shown, and the behavior would not be condoned.

The user replied back with relief, noting that while Sharon's actions reflect on her alone, it's still disheartening to make it look like the other people around at the time weren't alarmed.

Sharon, who starred on the reality show "The Osbournes" for a few years with her family, has had a lot of shocking events in her life. For the first few years of marriage, her husband Ozzy would abuse her.

Sharon's past

Luckily, he went to rehab to get treated for a drinking habit. The couple had three kids, two of which also had drug problems and had to go to rehab as well. Sharon also went through health problems.

In 2002, she was diagnosed with colorectal cancer. Ten years later, she underwent a double mastectomy when she learned she was at risk for breast cancer.

Son Jack, in 2012, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis for which Sharon blamed herself for a long time. Nowadays, Jack is managing his disorder.

Union's situation

His mother also works as a host on the show, "The Talk." Back in early December, Sharon ironically told off one company for firing someone, namely, Gabrielle Union.

After Union alleged that she was discriminated against on "America's Got Talent" and then fired, Sharon described the show as "a boys' club" based their actions.

She previously worked on AGT, and considering Union was fired along with Julianne Hough, Sharon's words made sense. Her reasons for firing the assistant that Christmas, though, don't quite cut it.