Ozzy Osbourne has done and said quite a few shocking things throughout his long career, from allegedly once biting the head off a bat to all sorts of superhuman feats of drug and alcohol usage. But it would appear that he draws the line at antisemitism.
When Kanye West, for his new album Vultures 1, used a sample from the Black Sabbath song “Iron Man” without permission, Ozzy Osbourne called him out on social media. Did he do it on copyright grounds? Not quite. He did it because “HE IS AN ANTISEMITE AND HAS CAUSED UNTOLD HEARTACHE TO MANY.”
Ozzy’s wife, Sharon, is Jewish, and has said that West “fucked with the wrong Jew this time.”
West, now known as “Ye,” lost most of his mainstream sponsorships and business relationships back in 2022 when he made a series of antisemitic comments, including declaring his intention to “go DEFCON 3 on Jewish people.” He later stated — in an interview with Alex Jones, no less — that “I like Hitler.”
West eventually apologized for his comments, although one report stated that the new album includes the lyric “And I’m still crazy, bipolar, antisemite. And I’m still the king,” which caused the streamed album release party to stop abruptly.
The album also reportedly includes the lyric “How am I anti-Semitic? I just f—ed a Jewish b—h.”
Kanye West has since responded to Ozzy Osbourne, sharing a picture of the performer and his wife Sharon dressed as Kanye and his wife Bianca for Halloween.
Also, Ye has since removed a song from Spotify, after complaints about an unauthorized sample from the estate of the late disco queen Donna Summer.
The lesson, perhaps? Maybe a star can get away with unauthorized samples if he’s someone who everyone likes. But if you’ve antagonized everybody, throughout a long period and proven yourself a bigot to boot, doing so isn’t nearly so easy.
