When you think of Ozzy Osbourne, you probably think of a guy biting the head off a bat or stumbling around his mansion in a robe. You think of heavy metal, the Prince of Darkness, and maybe a few too many "Sharon!" yells. But lately, a different question has been popping up in search bars and social media threads: is Ozzy Osbourne racist?
It’s a heavy question. Honestly, it’s one that comes with a lot of baggage because the Osbourne name has been dragged through the mud on this topic over the last few years. Usually, it’s not even because of something Ozzy did himself. It’s mostly because of the fallout from his wife Sharon’s exit from The Talk in 2021.
But let’s get into the weeds here. If you're looking for a simple "yes" or "no," you're not going to find it because life is messy, especially for a guy who has spent 50 years in the public eye.
The Sharon Connection and the 2021 Controversy
To understand why people are asking "is Ozzy Osbourne racist" today, you have to look at March 2021. Sharon Osbourne got into a very heated, very public argument with her co-host Sheryl Underwood. It started because Sharon defended her friend Piers Morgan, who had made some pretty dismissive comments about Meghan Markle.
Things spiraled. Sharon was accused of using racial slurs and making offensive comments about her colleagues behind the scenes. She eventually left the show after an internal investigation.
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Where does Ozzy fit in? He jumped to her defense immediately. In an interview on his SiriusXM show Ozzy Speaks, he called Sharon the "most un-racist person" he’d ever met. He told his co-host Billy Morrison that "if my wife was slightly racist, I’d tell you." He basically said that once you’re "painted with that brush," it’s nearly impossible to shake off.
People took this defense in two ways. Some saw it as a loyal husband standing by his wife. Others saw it as a white man dismissing the very real concerns of the Black women who worked with her.
What Has Ozzy Actually Said?
If you scour the archives for Ozzy’s own track record, you won't find a long list of racial slurs or hate speech. That’s just the truth. Ozzy has always been more of an equal-opportunity offender. He’s urinated on the Alamo (which got him banned from San Antonio for a decade), bit heads off birds, and snorted lines of ants. His "brand" has always been chaos, not ideology.
But that doesn't mean he's been totally silent on world events. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he was pretty vocal. In 2020, he called out Donald Trump in Rolling Stone, calling him a "fool" for his handling of the virus.
Interestingly, while some rockers have leaned into "anti-woke" rhetoric or made "Great Replacement" style comments, Ozzy has mostly stayed out of the culture wars. He’s a 77-year-old man from Birmingham, England, who grew up in a very different era, but his public statements have generally stayed in the lane of "everyone is a bit mad, isn't it?"
The Rock and Roll Context
Heavy metal has a complicated history with race. It’s a genre that was built on the backs of Black blues musicians, yet for decades, the stage was dominated by white men.
Ozzy’s band, Black Sabbath, actually sang about some pretty heavy social issues. If you listen to songs like "War Pigs" or "Hand of Doom," they aren't about hate; they are about the corruption of power and the plight of the working class. Ozzy has never been one to shy away from "ugly" topics, but his focus was always on the "evil" of war and the "evil" of the devil, rather than the "evil" of other people based on their skin color.
Why People Still Worry
The reason "is Ozzy Osbourne racist" stays in the zeitgeist is basically "guilt by association." When you’ve been married for over 40 years, your identities kind of merge in the public eye.
Sharon has been accused of:
- Calling Julie Chen "wonton" and "slanty eyes."
- Calling Leah Remini a "guinea" or "wop."
- Calling Sara Gilbert "pussy licker."
These are serious allegations. While Sharon denies them, the settlement she reached with CBS didn't exactly clear the air. Because Ozzy hasn't distanced himself from these comments—and instead calls her "un-racist"—many people feel he is at least complicit in a household culture that doesn't take racism seriously.
Is There a "Smoking Gun"?
Honestly? No. There isn't a leaked tape of Ozzy using slurs. There isn't a manifesto. There isn't even a history of him refusing to work with people of color. In fact, throughout his solo career, he’s worked with a huge variety of musicians.
The "Prince of Darkness" is a lot of things. He’s a former addict, a legendary performer, a guy with Parkinson's, and a reality TV pioneer. But based on the actual evidence available in 2026, the label of "racist" doesn't quite stick to him the way it might to other figures in rock history.
He seems to be a man who is fiercely loyal to his family, even when that family is embroiled in racial controversy. Whether you think that makes him "part of the problem" or just a loyal husband is really up to your own perspective on accountability.
Moving Forward: What to Keep in Mind
If you’re trying to figure out where you stand on the "is Ozzy Osbourne racist" debate, look at the actions rather than the headlines.
- Check the Sources: Most "Ozzy is racist" articles are actually about Sharon. Make sure you're distinguishing between the two.
- Look at the Lyrics: Sabbath and solo Ozzy lyrics are almost entirely focused on mental health, drugs, war, and the occult.
- The Defense Factor: Deciding how much a person is responsible for their spouse's behavior is the real crux of this issue.
At the end of the day, Ozzy’s legacy is probably going to be defined by his music and his wild lifestyle. While the 2021 controversy cast a shadow over the Osbourne household, Ozzy himself has managed to keep his personal record relatively clean of the specific accusations that took down Sharon's daytime TV career.
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To stay truly informed, you should look into the specific transcripts from The Talk in March 2021 to see exactly what was said and how the argument unfolded. Reading the original reports from Variety or the Los Angeles Times about the internal CBS investigation will give you the most factual, non-biased view of the situation that put the Osbournes in the crosshairs of this discussion.