Sharon Osbourne is not happy with Kanye West using a sample from Ozzy Osbourne’s song “War Pigs.”
“Kanye f–ked with the wrong Jew this time,” Sharon, 71, said in a statement to TMZ on Friday, February 9, while noting that she and Ozzy, 75, have sent a cease and desist to West, 46.
Sharon told the outlet someone from West’s team reached out to her and Ozzy three weeks ago about using the song and claimed they told them “absolutely not.” Sharon revealed that Ozzy typically approves requests but decided to say no to West’s ask due to his past antisemitic remarks.
Earlier on Friday, Ozzy released a statement of his own, slamming West for going forward with using the sample without his permission.
“@kanyewest ASKED PERMISSION TO SAMPLE A SECTION OF A 1983 LIVE PERFORMANCE OF ‘WAR PIG’ FROM THE US FESTIVAL WITHOUT VOCALS & WAS REFUSED PERMISSION BECAUSE HE IS AN ANTISEMITE AND HAS CAUSED UNTOLD HEARTACHE TO MANY,” the rockstar wrote via X at the time. “HE WENT AHEAD AND USED THE SAMPLE ANYWAY AT HIS ALBUM LISTENING PARTY LAST NIGHT. I WANT NO ASSOCIATION WITH THIS MAN!”
West had a release party in Chicago for his and Ty Dolla Sign’s joint album Vultures on Thursday, February 8. The record was expected to drop on Friday but has yet to hit streaming services at this time.
Before the album’s release, West has been dealing with the backlash over his numerous antisemitic comments over the years. In October 2022, West tweeted he was going “death con 3 [sic] on JEWISH PEOPLE.”
His comment led to him getting banned from the platform and losing several sponsorships. West then appeared on Piers Morgan Uncensored to apologize for his remarks. Two months later, West sat down with Alex Jones where he stated he saw “good things about Hitler.”
Most recently, West went on a rant in December 2023 where he claimed that “Zionists” control private schools and hospitals, adding that “it’s 60 million of us in America, 60 million Jews in the world.”
Days later, West took to social media to apologize again with a message written in Hebrew.
“I sincerely apologize to the Jewish community for any ‘unintended outburst’ caused by my words or actions,’” he said at the time. “[It] was not my intention to hurt or demean, and I deeply regret any pain I may have caused. I am committed to starting with myself and learning from this experience to ensure greater sensitivity and understanding in the future.”
