Ozzy Osbourne has opened up about standing up to Kanye West after the rapper sampled one of Osbourne’s tracks without permission.
The conflict between the two arose earlier this month when the Black Sabbath frontman took to social media to call out the rapper for sampling one of his songs without permission.
Osbourne was informed that West had looped a sample of the Black Sabbath song ‘Iron Man’ into his new album, ‘Vultures’. West reportedly played the clip during an event promoting his new album with Ty Dolla $ign on February 8 at the United Center in Chicago.
Responding to the usage, the metal icon hit out at West, sharing a lengthy post on Instagram in which he called the rapper an “anti-Semite”.
He wrote that West “asked permission to sample a section of a 1983 live performance of ‘War Pigs’ from the US festival without vocals” but was subsequently “refused permission because he is an antisemite and has caused untold heartache to many.” The post was later amended to the song ‘Iron Man’.
In an interview with Rolling Stone, Osbourne addressed confronting the rapper and said: “Well, nobody else would fucking do it, did they?”
He continued, adding that he has no regrets about speaking out. “With the current state of affairs, you don’t need anybody starting people on discrimination of any kind. It’s wrong. It’s just wrong.”
“There’s enough fucking aggravation, and he shouldn’t say anything [like what he has],” Osbourne told the publication. “It’s wrong if you don’t say anything about him. I don’t want any of my work in any shape or form to be associated with anything like that.”
Sharon Osbourne subsequently lashed out at West, saying he “fucked with the wrong Jew this time” during an interview with TMZ. Sharon, who was raised as Jewish, said that Ozzy typically doesn’t refuse to clear samples – but in West’s case, he had “special fucking occasion to say no”.
She went on to brand West as a “disrespectful anti-Semite”, saying that these days he “represents hate”. The Osbournes then reportedly sent a cease and desist to West, and it was reported on Sunday (February 11) that the rapper removed the sample – replacing it with fuzzy guitar feedback.
West recently shared an update following Ozzy Osbourne’s criticism, claiming that the comments may not have come from the musician himself.
In the update, the rapper posted a picture of Ozzy and Sharon dressing up as him and his wife, Bianca Censori, for Halloween last year. For the costume, the two mimicked a stunt where West and Censori attended an event with the rapper in all black, covering his face, while Censori seemingly only held a cushion to cover herself. West shared text underneath the image, reading: “He obviously has a celebrity handler who’s on his account.”
West was first accused of anti-Semitism in October 2022 following a series of posts on Twitter and Instagram, which saw his accounts on both social media sites suspended.
Following the initial claims of anti-Semitism, the rapper was dropped by his lawyer, talent agency and record label, while several fashion brands – including Balenciaga and Adidas – ended their partnerships with him. Celebrities and politicians around the world condemned his comments, while West said he didn’t “believe” in the term antisemitism in an interview with News Nation‘s Chris Cuomo.
He recently issued an apology to the Jewish community for his anti-Semitic comments.