Why Sharon Osbourne’s apology to ‘The View’ is a brilliant ploy

Sharon Osbourne says she’s sorry she told the women on “The View� that they could go [bleep] themselves.

But we’re guessing she’s probably not sorry for all the PR her comments and subsequent apology have generated. And that’s why lately “The Talk� has been coming out ahead of its archrival in the daytime talk wars.

The controversy started when Osbourne told Arsenio Hall this week that while Barbara Walters is “divine,� the rest of “The View� panelists -- that would be Whoopi Goldberg, Jenny McCarthy and Sherri Shepherd -- could go do something unnatural to themselves (expressed in more salty language).

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Those comments reverberated all over the media, naturally. So on Thursday’s edition of “The Talk,� where she’s a panelist, Osbourne took it all back.

“I was inappropriate and I was trying to be funny at somebody else’s expense,� Mrs. O explained.

She continued: “Please understand, it was my irreverent, irreverent behavior and no disrespect meant. And I’m not a person that is mean. I’m really not and I apologize.�

Is it sincere? Who knows, but that’s not the point. What matters is that “The Talk� and “The View� are locked in a battle for viewers, and “The Talk� -- which was widely ridiculed as a “View� pretender when it premiered a few seasons back -- is gaining. These are daily programs and the ratings picture changes slowly. It’s a grinding battle. One way to get an edge is to dominate the news cycle. And “The Talk� has proved a lot better at that than “The View� has lately.

To wit: By flinging a fairly ordinary insult toward her competitors, Osbourne was able to get waves of online stories for two days straight. “Sharon said what? And now she’s apologized? I have to see how she’ll dig herself out of that hole!�

That’s called working it. And “The Talk� has been working it quite well lately. Which might make the ladies of “The View� pretty bleepin’ mad indeed.

What do you think of Osbourne and her insult?

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