Ozzy Osbourne has said that Kanye West went ahead with sampling a Black Sabbath song after being refused permission.
The 75-year-old British heavy metal singer, who rose to fame as the frontman of Black Sabbath, said he does not want to be associated with West as he has brought “untold heartache to many” following his remarks about Jewish people.
In December last year, 46-year-old West apologised to “the Jewish community for any unintended outburst caused by my words or actions” following him making a series of antisemitic comments.
Known as Ye, the US rapper is putting out a new record, Vultures, with American singer Ty Dolla Sign – which features the song Carnival and Osbourne says samples a part of Black Sabbath’s 1970s single Iron Man.
. @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
Writing on X, formerly Twitter, Osbourne said: “@KanyeWest asked permission to sample a section of a 1983 live performance of “Iron Man” from the US Festival without vocals and 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 listening party last night. I want no association with this man!”
His wife, the reality star and former The X Factor judge Sharon Osbourne, also wrote about the use on her X account.
She wrote: “Welcome to the Carnival @kanyewest #permissionnotgranted #ironman.”
West, the ex-husband of socialite and businesswoman Kim Kardashian, has previously sampled the track on his song Hell Of A Life.
He wrote on Instagram in Hebrew last year that he is apologising “sincerely” to the Jewish community for “any pain I may have caused”.
This follows companies including German sports brand Adidas and Balenciaga fashion house cutting ties with him.
His apology was criticised by the American Jewish Committee who said that he was not “acknowledging the pain that he has caused” and writing in Hebrew made it “inaccessible to most American Jews who do not speak the language”.
In December 2022, West praised Nazi leader Adolf Hitler while in conversation with US conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, saying: “I like Hitler.”
Shortly afterwards, his account on X was suspended for violating the platform’s policy against inciting violence.
His tweets have included a symbol which appeared to combine a swastika and a Jewish star.
West’s account was reinstated on the platform, owned by tech billionaire Elon Musk, after eight months.