Bad rap

Ozzy Osbourne slams ‘antisemitic’ Kanye after unapproved sample use

‘I want no association with this man!’ legendary Black Sabbath lead singer says

Ozzy Osbourne performing at half time during an NFL Professional Football Game between the Los Angeles Rams and Buffalo Bills on September. 8, 2021, in Inglewood, California (AP Photo/John McCoy)
Ozzy Osbourne performing at half time during an NFL Professional Football Game between the Los Angeles Rams and Buffalo Bills on September. 8, 2021, in Inglewood, California (AP Photo/John McCoy)

British rock star Ozzy Osbourne lamented Saturday that American rapper Kanye West had used a sample of the rocker’s music even though Osbourne had refused to let him do so due to West’s being an “antisemite” who “has caused untold heartache to many.”

In an angry, all-caps post on X, the former Black Sabbath frontman said that West had requested permission to use an instrumental from a 1983 live recording of the iconic heavy metal band’s song “Iron Man,” and was turned down because of his frequent antisemitic outbursts in recent years. Nonetheless, the refused sample was featured in the Friday listening party for the rapper’s upcoming album, titled “Vultures.”

“I want no association with this man!” added Osbourne, whose wife Sharon recently said Judaism is her only religion in an interview to the London-based Jewish Chronicle, which described her as a “patrilineal Jew.”

West has lost record deals and designing partnerships since going on a series of bizarre antisemitic tangents, including a screenshot he uploaded to Twitter (now X) in December 2022 that showed a Star of David interlaced with a swastika, which got the musician kicked off the social platform for several months.

The rapper also expressed admiration for Adolf Hitler, and reportedly considered naming one of his studio albums after the Nazi dictator, before being dissuaded from doing so by his record label.

Kanye West attends the Vanity Fair Oscar Party following the 92nd annual Oscars at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, California, February 9, 2020. (Jean-Baptiste Lacroix/AFP)

In December 2023, West deleted all his Instagram posts, leaving only a software-translated Hebrew language post apologizing to Jews and committing to “making amends and promoting unity.” Nine months earlier, West had claimed that watching the 2012 film “21 Jump Street,” starring American Jewish actor Jonah Hill, had cured him of his antisemitism.

Notwithstanding, West’s Friday listening party, which was broadcast live on the Veeps streaming service, featured a track from the rapper’s new album that included the lyric: “And I’m still crazy, bipolar, antisemite. And I’m still the king.” The New York Post reported that one second later, the livestream was shut down.

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