Animal rights group PETA has recently paid homage to the late Ozzy Osbourne, leaving some individuals perplexed.
Ozzy Osbourne passed away earlier this week, and his family announced his death with a heartfelt statement on July 22.
Their statement read, “It is with more sadness than mere words can convey that we have to report that our beloved Ozzy Osbourne has passed away this morning. He was with his family and surrounded by love.”
“We ask everyone to respect our family privacy at this time.”
Following the announcement of Osbourne’s passing, numerous tributes have been shared, including one from PETA, which expressed its admiration for the Black Sabbath frontman on X.
PETA’s message stated, “Rest in peace, Ozzy Osbourne – a true legend. PETA will remember the ‘Prince of Darkness’ most fondly for the gentle side he showed to animals. He’ll be missed by animal advocates the world over.”
PETA also noted, “An icon and provocateur, Ozzy will be remembered not just for his music but for the compassion he showed animals, most recently cats, by using his fame to decry painful, crippling declawing mutilations.”
“Ozzy may have taken center stage, but his wife Sharon and daughter Kelly were in perfect harmony with him when it came to defending animals. He will be deeply missed.”
Some individuals, however, were taken aback by PETA’s tribute, recalling controversial incidents from Osbourne’s past.
One person commented, “I honestly thought this was a satire account posting this.”
Another added, “Bats and doves would like a word.”
This comment alludes to a 1982 incident during a concert in Des Moines, Iowa.
A fan threw a bat onto the stage, and Osbourne, thinking it was fake, bit off its head. It’s still uncertain whether the bat was alive or dead when thrown.
In his autobiography, I Am Ozzy, he wrote about the experience: “Immediately, though, something felt wrong. Very wrong. For a start, my mouth was instantly full of this warm, gloopy liquid. Then the head in my mouth twitched.”
“Somebody threw a bat. I just thought it was a rubber bat. And I picked it up and put it in my mouth. I bit into it. Oh no, it’s real. It was a real live bat.”
However, he told the BBC that the bat was already deceased.
“This bat comes on. I thought it was one of them Hallowe’en joke bats ‘cos it had some string around its neck,” he explained.
“I bite into it, and I look to my left and Sharon was going [gesturing no].”
“And I’m like, what you talking about? She [says], ‘It’s a dead real bat’. And I’m… I know now!”
In another controversial moment in 1981, while promoting a new album, Osbourne reportedly ‘bit the head off’ a dove, which was meant to be released to celebrate his new music.
According to rock biographer Mick Wall, in his book Black Sabbath: Symptoms of the Universe, Osbourne ‘pulled out one of these doves and bit its head off just to shut [a PR] up’.
“Then I did it again with the next dove… spitting the head out on the table,” Osbourne allegedly said.
“That’s when they threw me out. They said I’d never work for CBS again.”
Osbourne later claimed to Sounds magazine’s Garry Bushell that the dove was already dead.
“I wanted to make a real impression. The scam is the bird was dead. We were planning to release it there, but it died beforehand. So rather than waste it, I bit its head off. You should have seen their faces,” he explained.
“They all went white. They were speechless. That girl in the pictures was screaming. Eventually, a bloke came up and said, ‘You’d better go’.”
In another troubling revelation, Osbourne admitted in 2007 that during a drug-induced episode, he killed the family’s 17 cats.
While speaking with The Scotsman, he confessed: “I was taking drugs so much I was a f*****. The final straw came when I shot all our cats. We had about 17, and I went crazy and shot them all. My wife found me under the piano in a white suit, a shotgun in one hand and a knife in the other.”
Since 2013, Osbourne has been completely sober.
Despite these incidents, Osbourne collaborated with PETA in 2020 to campaign against cat declawing.
He stated, “Amputating a cat’s toes is twisted and wrong. If your couch is more important to you than your cat’s health and happiness, you don’t deserve to have an animal! Get cats a scratching post – don’t mutilate them for life.”