“It’s wrong if you don’t say anything about him,” Osbourne tells Rolling Stone
Ozzy Osbourne felt like he had to make a stand earlier this month when Kanye West asked to sample “Iron Man” for a song on the rapper’s new album. “Well, nobody else would fucking do it, did they?” he tells Rolling Stone.
Ahead of West and Ty Dolla $ign’s doomed Vultures 1 album rollout, Osbourne posted to his social media that he had denied West’s sample request “because he is an antisemite and has caused untold heartache to many.” To make matters worse, Osbourne wrote at the time that West “used the sample anyway.” But after Osbourne went public with the issue, West eventually replaced the sample on the song “Carnival” before it hit streaming services.
Osbourne has no regrets about going public with his disdain for the rapper. “With the current state of affairs, you don’t need anybody starting people on discrimination of any kind,” he says. “It’s wrong. It’s just wrong.” Osbourne’s frustration with the incident still comes through in his voice as he chastises West.
“There’s enough fucking aggravation, and he shouldn’t say anything [like what he has],” Osbourne says. “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.”
Osbourne spoke about West during an interview about a new song titled “Crack Cocaine” that he recorded with Billy Morrison, who plays guitar for Billy Idol. Morrison’s album, The Morrison Project, comes out in April.
When Osbourne made his comments about West earlier this month, the rapper did not comment, though, at one of his Vultures listening events, he replaced “Carnival” with “Hell of a Life,” a 2010 song that used a legally cleared sample of “Iron Man.”
Before it was known that West was removing the sample, Osbourne’s wife and manager, Sharon Osbourne, also commented on the debacle, standing by her husband. “We are considering legal action,” she said in a statement. “Ozzy has not spoken to Kanye, but our team have spoken with theirs.” (Sharon is of Jewish descent.)
The estate of Donna Summer lodged a similar complaint publicly against West, alleging he used “I Feel Love” without permission on Vultures 1.
Over the past year, West had promoted antisemitic tropes several times, including an incident where he said he would go “death con 3” on “Jewish people.” He eventually apologized but has promoted Vultures with artwork that resembles cover art by Burzum, a Norwegian metal act that has also been accused of antisemitism. West has also been photographed in a Burzum shirt.
