Avira > Either the story about rav ovadia is false, which i think it is, or he thought it was a boy, or he simply wasn’t on the level of gedolei olam
Maybe he grew up in a different society than Chofetz Chaim with different attitudes and had different sensitivities? For one, it seems from the other story that R Ovadia did not have “another room” like Chofetz Chaim did… Another story that even in later years, R Ovadia lived in a small apartment and someone visiting him realized that the apartment does not have place of all seforim R Ovadia is quoting, so he apparently was quoting by heart.
More generally, Sefardim did not go thru haskala period and thus have more coherent communities without separating in bitter sub-groups, each trying to find faults with the other. So, a Sephardi Chacham can allow himself a moderate opinion without being called names. As the story quoted here before said “Hu Rav, Ani Chacham”.