Kelly Osbourne Breaks Silence on the ‘If You Kick Every Latino Out’ Video Going Viral
It was 2015. Trump had recently announced his campaign for president with his “Mexico isn’t sending their best” speech, and Kelly Osbourne was a guest host on The View, discussing Trump’s stance on immigration alongside hosts, including Whoopi Goldberg and Rosie Perez.
“If you kick every Latino out of this country,” Osbourne started, letting out a nervous giggle. “Then who is going to be cleaning your toilets, Donald Trump?”
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The camera focused on Osbourne’s face as she quickly realized — thanks to her co-host’s immediate gasps and Perez’s “Oh that’s not” — that she had royally fucked up on live TV. “In the sense that… You know what I mean?” she continued, trying to course correct. “I didn’t mean it like that. Come on!” But by then, it was too late. She had meant to highlight the importance of immigrants in the U.S., but instead had grouped them into a monolith of service workers.
Osbourne remembers receiving backlash immediately as she received death threats and accusations of racism for her tone-deaf remark. At the time, Osbourne took responsibility for her “poor choice of words,” but clarified: “I will not apologize for being racist as I am NOT.” Almost a decade since that incident, the video often comes back to haunt Osbourne online. And in the last two weeks, the clip resurfaced once more — this time, on TikTok, with users recreating the video by sharing slightly problematic takes that rely on silly stereotypes, similar to how she did with Latinos.
“If you kick every lesbian out of this country, who’s going to rent your trucks, U-Haul?” joked @jaycewolf126246, “If you get rid of every horribly designed parking lot, where are you going to put your stores, Trader Joe’s?” laughed @sarahletitz.
Today, Osbourne isn’t looking for anyone’s pity. But she’s finally ready to talk about what happened and how she’s grown from that incident. “It’s the most cringe moment of my entire life,” she tells Rolling Stone. “But to see people be creative with it does put a smile on my face. It turns something so ugly into something funny.”
In a twisted way, the trend seems to be the internet recognizing that perhaps most people knew the point Osbourne was trying to make and that maybe, just maybe, it was too harsh on her.
“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 says now. “It came out so wrong.”
Osbourne spoke to Rolling Stone about the clip going viral again, teaching her son Sidney about privilege and anti-racism, and why “as a white person, it’s time to sit down and shut the fuck up.”
I wanted to talk to you about this clip from The View coming back on people’s timelines.
Oh my God, I died. It hurt a lot of people, and that to me, is by far makes it the worst thing I’ve ever done. 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.
If you could go back and say what you meant to say, what would that be?
I feel very strongly that Latin American culture is the backbone of America. I believe that Latin Americans are the hardest-working people you will ever meet. And their connection to family and their culture is closer to mine than the American way. I’ve never tried to be American. I never wanted to be a part of a country where there’s so much hate and there’s so much misinformation and kick them when they’re down mentality.
What do you think of the clip coming back? Have you seen the videos?
It goes to show that people never forget. And even though I’m the butt of the joke, I’m still laughing. And some of them are very smart. But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t hate myself a little bit more each time I see it.
Does it bring you back to that time, or why is that?
It was a really, really hard time in my life. I had just been in rehab and what I needed was something else. It wasn’t for drugs, it was more my anxiety disorder, my depression disorder, childhood trauma, all of that kind of stuff. During that time, my dad [Ozzy] had just cheated on my mother [Sharon]. I was drinking to numb the pain of everything. I was a trash can when it came to drugs, whatever I could get my hands on. And I was a really broken, scared person. And then after that event, it kind of kick-started me taking a long, hard look at myself and the things that I don’t like and the things that I’d like to change and the things that I’d like to keep.
Who’s the Kelly you see in that video?
Oh, a self-righteous little cunt. 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.”
Have you made a conscious effort to educate yourself on those sorts of subjects?
When it comes to what’s going on with immigration, it does make me proud that I live in California where you can become a part of the healthcare system now and you don’t have to be a resident. When you see the news and they put these people on planes and buses and drive them around America as a way of getting back at each other, I think that that is so disgusting. [Immigrants are] coming here because they want the opportunity to build something for themselves. And every single American person had that opportunity, so why can’t they? This country was built on immigrants. Unless you’re a Native American, you immigrated into this country somewhere in your family.
Maybe this is a bigger conversation about privilege.
Oh, my God, of course. I didn’t know what white privilege was because you just go along living your life and until somebody points out that something is, you don’t fucking know. Because like I said, it’s very different in England. But here it’s like, if you’re white, you’re privileged, period. White people were not enslaved in America. It gets me so nervous that even now I’m like, “Shit, am I saying the wrong thing?” I am privileged not just because of who my parents are or the color of my skin, it’s that the life that I have is very privileged. And for a long time, I took that for granted because I didn’t understand it.
Do you plan to speak to your son about the fact that he has privilege as a white person?
I’m going to have to play that video for my son at one point and explain it to him. That is probably the cherry on the cake of how painful all of this is. I want him to understand what I was trying to say and how powerful words are.
It brings up that nepo baby conversation that we have often.
I’m a fucking nepo baby and I’m proud to be a nepo baby. I’m proud of my parents’ achievements. I think that what they have done is incredible, history-making. I go so far as to say both of them are iconic. But it doesn’t mean that I should automatically be given all of these opportunities. My parents have always taught me that you have to prove yourself.
With the context of your mom leaving The Talk after an on-air incident with co-host Sheryl Underwood in 2021, and with what happened with you back then, what’s the learning lesson here?
This just goes for anybody, not specifically my family. Nobody wants to hear from a white person about race. No one. They don’t. I learned that the hard way. Like I said, it is time for us to accept the change that’s happening and embrace it and support it rather than being scared and feeling like someone’s taking something away from you. Everybody is entitled to their opinion, but like I said, it’s time to sit down and shut up. If you’re not supporting it, shut up.
Can I ask why you said yes to doing this interview?
I said yes because I’ve never spoken about it before, ever. And it was something that was so painful. And so life-changing, chaotic, and crazy in every way. I mean, I received death threats. I used to have this freedom where people liked my crazy opinions and they liked the shock factor of it. And I fed into it a lot because I didn’t understand it. I’ve learned when to shut up and to stop talking. I’m definitely not the person I was before that incident.
Have you heard of “anti-racism” before? It’s this idea that we’ve reached a point in society where not being racist is no longer enough.
I agree with you. I was so ignorant and so misinformed. I thought simply not being racist was enough. It’s not enough. You have to actively stand up against it. You know how they have signs now in stores if it’s a Black-owned business? My natural reaction is to go to the Black-owned business. When I am employing people, it’s about giving as much back as you have received.
What do you hope people take from this interview?
I hope people realize I’m taking responsibility and trying to mend the hurt. But I do deserve a second chance. But at the same time, I can totally see why people won’t and don’t think that.
The term “racism” has come up several times with your family. Do you hope people change their perspective about your family or do you just not care anymore?
Honestly, I don’t care anymore because people like to label you. People like to say, “You’re this.” Because if they’re saying that you’re that, then they’re like, “But I’m not.” People jump on a bandwagon because they’re like, “Well, if I’m supporting the good side, no one’s going to look at me.” Everybody needs to take a long, hard look at themselves. Not everybody. That’s wrong. White people need to take a long hard look, check their privilege, and be a little bit more open-minded. A lot more open-minded.
What’s life like for you these days?
New mom life is difficult but in a fun way. I never really felt like I had a purpose in life until I had a baby and that changed everything. I have such a better understanding and perspective. Some people have a baby and it feels like their life is over and they’ve got to start a new one. I had a baby and I feel like my life has just begun.
This interview was edited for length and clarity.
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