Sharon Osbourne responds to accusations Ozzy avatar is a 'cash grab'
She addresses the controversy on The Osbournes podcast
Sharon Osbourne has responded to accusations that the launch of an AI-powered Ozzy Osbourne avatar is a “cash grab.”
Last month, Sharon and Jack Osbourne revealed at the Licensing Expo 2026 in Las Vegas that they have teamed with two companies, HYPERREAL and Proto Hologram, to launch a fully interactive digital likeness of the late-great Ozzy.
Set to debut in the UK and US this summer, fans will be able to see the digital Ozzy avatar at life-sized interactive displays called Proto Luma units.
Since the controversial avatar was announced, many in the online world have criticised the Osbourne family’s decision to embrace the technology.
In the latest episode of The Osbournes podcast, Sharon and Jack addressed the comments online, with Sharon saying: “I was reading some of them, and it’s like ‘oh, f--- off’.”
“This isn't Chat GPT with dad’s face on it,” Jack explained. “This is a closed AI, so it's not connected to the internet. We build a database, and the thing that I cannot emphasize enough, is that this is only information that either my dad said or was accurate or was written accurately about him.”
Sharon said: “Technology moves on, and I'm sorry for those people. I'm not asking you to come. I don't want your f---ing money. I don't need your f---ing money. I'm doing very well, actually, and I always have my entire life. You know why?”
When Jack noted it’s because Sharon is smart, she went on: “And the thing is, for somebody to turn around to me and say I'm doing a cash grab. No, you don't know my husband. Okay, I know my husband, and my husband would say to me over and over, ‘after I go, how long do you think I'll be remembered? How long do you think?’ (I said), ‘I just don't know, because I'll be probably going with you, so don't ask me.’
“But the thing is, for 10 years we've been exploring this. The thing is I don't have to justify what we do to any f---er. I don't have to justify. What did they think we're going to do? I'm going to hawk my husband around selling weed killer on an ad or selling cigarettes or beer. Do you think I'm going to do that? No, no.”
“It’s creative and we’re moving with the times. It's like saying, why do you need a CD when you have a vinyl record? You move with the times, and this is great technology, and I'm not going to let anyone bastardise my husband.”
Jack then insisted the “most important thing for me is that when we create this digital imprint of Dad, we create it, we own it, we control it.”
“It's something that will pass on through our family, and it's for our grandkids, and that's it,” Sharon responded. “And I don't have to justify anything to any f---er out there.”
Reflecting on the cash grab accusations, Jack added: “At the end of the day, if keeping dad alive and accessible to a fan is cash grabbing, and f---ing guilty as charged, because at the end of the day, entertainment and the industry that we're in. None of this is for f---ing charity.”
Highlighting that they’re not planning to charge fans, Sharon chipped in: “But the thing is, I'm not f---ing charging anybody to go in and see it. Who are we charging? What was said, you have to buy a ticket? No.”
The real names of 100 rock stars:
Cozy Powell’s real name: Colin Trevor Flooks
Alex Lifeson’s real name: Alexandar Živojinović
'Lifeson' is a semi-literal English translation of the Yugoslavian surname Živojinović, which means 'son of life'
Ginger Baker's real name: Peter Edward Baker
John 5’s real name: John William Lowery
Yngwie Malmsteen’s real name: Lars Johann Yngwie Lannerback
Rudy Sarzo’s real name: Rodolfo Maximiliano Sarzo Lavieille Grande Ruiz Payret y Chaumont
Eric Carr's real name: Paul Charles Caravello
Vinnie Vincent’s real name: Vincent John Cusano
Tina Turner’s real name: Anna Mae Bullock
King Diamond’s real name: Kim Bendix Petersen
Joey Tempest's real name: Rolf Magnus Joakim Larsson
Michael Monroe’s real name: Matti Antero Kristian Fagerholm
Mikkey Dee’s real name: Micael Kiriakos Delaoglou
Jonathan Cain’s real name: Jonathan Leonard Friga
Nikki Sixx's real name: Frank Ferrano
Steven Adler’s real name: Michael Coletti
Axl Rose's real name: William Bruce Rose
Bon Scott's real name: Ronald Belford Scott
Fish’s real name: Derek William Dick
Eddie Vedder's real name: Edward Louis Severson III
Peter Criss’ real name: George Peter John Criscuola
Freddie Mercury's real name: Farrokh Bulsara
Flea's real name: Michael Peter Balzary
Perry Farrell's real name: Perry Bernstein
Geddy Lee’s real name: Gary Lee Weinrib
Mick Mars' real name: Robert Deal
Tré Cool's real name: Frank Edwin Wright III
Courtney Love's real name: Courtney Michelle Harrison
Pat Smear's real name: Georg Albert Ruthenberg
Gene Simmons' real name: Chaim Klein Witz
Spike’s real name: Jonathan Gray
Iggy Pop's real name: James Newell Osterberg, JR.
Alice Cooper's real name: Vincent Damon Furnier
Slash's real name: Saul Hudson
Mike Dirnt's real name: Michael Ryan Pritchard
Ronnie James Dio's real name: Ronald James Padavona
Brody Dalle's real name: Bree Joanna Alice Robinson
Skin's real name: Deborah Anne Dyer
Nicky Wire's real name: Nicholas Jones
Amy Lee's real name: Amy Lynn Hartzler
Bill Wyman's real name: William Perks
Izzy Stradlin's real name: Jeffrey Isbell
Paul Stanley's real name: Stanley Eisen
Vince Neil's real name: Vincent Neil Wharton
Duff McKagan's real name: Michael McKagan
Jack Black’s real name: Thomas Jacob Black
Lemmy's real name: Ian Fraser Kilmister
John Paul Jones' real name: John Baldwin
Joan Jett's real name: Joan Larkin
Eric Clapton's real name: Eric Patrick Clapp
Siouxsie Sioux's real name: Susan Janet Ballion
Rachel Bolan’s real name: James Richard Southworth
David Bowie's real name: David Robert Hayward Stenton Jones
Little Richard's real name: Richard Wayne Penniman
Sid Vicious' real name: John Simon Ritchie
Ace Frehley's real name: Paul Daniel Frehley
Lou Reed's real name: Louis Firbank
Joe Strummer's real name: John Graham Mellor
Marc Bolan's real name: Mark Feld
The Edge's real name: David Howell Evans
Meat Loaf's real name: Marvin Lee Aday
Steven Tyler's real name: Steven Victor Tallarico
Ozzy Osbourne's real name: John Michael Osbourne
Jon Bon Jovi's real name: John Francis Bongiovi
Joey Belladonna’s real name: Joseph Bellardini
Jack White's real name: John Anthony Gillis
Bono's real name: Paul David Hewson
Sting's real name: Gordon Sumner
Billy Idol’s real name: William Michael Albert Broad
Geezer Butler’s real name: Terence Butler
Pat Benatar’s real name: Patricia Mae Giraldo
Bo Diddley’s real name: Ellas McDaniel
Muddy Waters’ real name: McKinley Morganfield
Stevie Nicks’ real name: Stephanie Lynn Nicks
Doro’s real name: Dorothee Pesch
Sebastian Bach’s real name: Sebastian Philip Bierk
Joe Perry’s real name: Joseph Pereira
Jimi Hendrix’s real name: James Marshall Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix)
Zakk Wylde’s real name: Jeffrey Phillip Wielandt
Maynard James Keenan’s real name: James Herbert Keenan
Blaze Bayley’s real name: Bayley Alexander Cooke
Biff Byford's real name: Peter Rodney Byford
M. Shadows' real name: Matthew Charles Sanders
Syd Barrett's real name: Roger Keith Barrett
Chris Jericho's real name: Christopher Keith Irvine
Ginger Wildheart's real name: David Leslie Walls
Paul Di'Anno's real name: Paul Andrews
Phil X’s real name: Theofilos Xenidis
Peter Green’s real name: Peter Allen Greenbaum
Nicko McBrain’s real name: Michael Henry McBrain
Noddy Holder’s real name: Neville John Holder
Steel Panther’s real names
Michael Starr: Ralph Michael Saenz, Satchel: Russell John Parrish, Stix Zadinia: Darren Leader, Spyder: Joe Lester.