Sharon Osbourne, the wife and manager of Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy, has warned Kanye West of potential legal consequences after his unauthorized sampling of ‘Iron Man’ on his new album.
In recent months, West has been repeatedly accused of antisemitism following several outrageous remarks in various interviews. Due to the deeply offensive nature of these statements, most prominent brands associated with him have terminated their deals. This period has undoubtedly seen his cultural standing undermined.
West’s latest project, Vultures is a collaborative effort under the moniker of ‘¥$’, a super duo with Ty Dolla Sign. According to the Osbournes, an album track samples a live recording of the Black Sabbath frontman performing ‘Iron Man’ as a solo artist at the US Festival in 1983.
Ozzy first brought the alleged copyright infringement to the public on February 9th. In a social media post, he claimed that he refused to allow West to sample Black Sabbath’s 1970 classic ‘Iron Man’ because he is “an antisemite and has caused untold heartache to many.”
In a follow-up interview with TMZ, Sharon has now had her say, telling the publication: “Kanye fucked with the wrong Jew this time.” She claims that the Osbournes have already sent a cease and desist to West’s legal team and will pursue further action if he continues to use the sample.
Notably, Sharon’s late father, Don Arden, the musical svengali who was once the Black Sabbath manager, was Jewish, and she has clarified in the past that she also identifies as a follower of the religion.
Speaking to TMZ, she claimed that West’s representatives first made contact about the sample three weeks ago and that both she and Ozzy said “absolutely not.” Allegedly, their rejection was ignored, as he reportedly played a song featuring a sample of the performance of ‘Iron Man’ during a Chicago listening party on February 8th.
In a separate interview with Billboard on February 9th, Sharon explained: ”We get so many requests for these songs, and when we saw that request, we just said no way.” She added: “The simple thing is, we don’t want to be associated with a hater”.
