Ozzy Osbourne Calls Out Kanye West in No Uncertain Terms for Using Black Sabbath Music Without Permission

Ozzy Osbourne might be the bat-head-biting "Prince of F—ing Darkness" but he's drawn a very firm line in the sand that Kanye West crossed. The heavy metal godfather has called out the rapper, in no uncertain terms, for using music from Osbourne's band, Black Sabbath, without permission.

Taking to X (formerly Twitter), Osbourne tagged West in a post revealing that the hip-hop producer "asked permission to sample" a portion of a live version of the Black Sabbath classic "War Pigs," corrected later to read "Iron Man." However, he "was refused permission because he is an antisemite and has caused untold heartache to many."

. @KANYEWEST ASKED PERMISSION TO SAMPLE A SECTION OF A 1983 LIVE PERFORMANCE OF “IRON MAN” FROM THE US FESTIVAL WITHOUT VOCALS & WAS REFUSED PERMISSION BECAUSE HE IS AN ANTISEMITE AND HAS CAUSED UNTOLD HEARTACHE TO MANY. HE WENT AHEAD AND USED THE SAMPLE ANYWAY AT HIS ALBUM…

— Ozzy Osbourne (@OzzyOsbourne) February 9, 2024

Osbourne says that even though West — who the rocker dressed as for Halloween — was denied permission to use the sample, "he went ahead" and did it "anyway at his album listening party last night." Osbourne concluded his post by saying that he wants "no association with" West. At this time, West does not appear to have responded to the post. Shortly after publishing, Osbourne deleted the post because he initially wrote down the wrong song, confusing West with T-Pain's recent cover of "War Pigs."

West has been heavily criticized over the past several years for increasingly erratic behavior, including many antisemitic comments on social media. In one post, West said that he was going "death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE." His comments cost him many business deals, including contracts with Adidas and his planned purchase of right-wing-friendly "free speech social media" platform, Parler.