'It Was My Own Fault' - Jack Osbourne on 'Digital Ozzy' Backlash

Back in May, Jack and Sharon Osbourne revealed plans to partner with HYPERREAL to create what Jack called “the digital DNA of Ozzy Osbourne, voice, image [and] movement.” Naturally, that led to outrage from fans, and in a new interview, Jack reflected on the controversy while admitting: “The backlash, it was my own fault.”

What Did Jack Osbourne Say About A.I. Ozzy?

Jack was a guest on the Great Company with Jamie Laing podcast (posted to YouTube on Oct. 21). About one-third of the way through their chat, Laing brought up the family’s plan to do “an A.I. version [of Ozzy],” confessing: “I know you got backlash [for it]. I think it’s a fucking great idea! I love it.”

“You know, the backlash. It was my own fault,” Jack replied, adding:

It was, like, we'd just kind of figured this thing out (that we were gonna do it) and I guess I didn’t – I wasn't properly armed with the way to properly explain what it was. And I think people thought that, you know, next thing you know, it's gonna be Ozzy Osbourne . . . selling cell phones. It's, like, no.

To his point, initial reactions were skeptical to say the least, with some people thinking “Digital Ozzy” would be a “money grab” (among other negative things).

Jack continued:

A lot of people are doing this now, where essentially by creating the A.I. model and creating the digital fingerprint of, you know, whoever [and] whatever (whether it's my father or Bob Marley's people are doing it and Michael Jackson's team are doing it). By kind of creating this digital fingerprint, you ultimately will own the digital I.P. and image of that person.
As to what it can be used for now, yeah, there's a handful of things; but, down the road, it's where things are going, right? It’s just – it's no different than saying, “I wanna own my images of my father. I wanna own, you know, his intellectual property,” whatever. It's just another avenue, and the fact that A.I. is what it is. It's not going anywhere [and] it's not changing. It was our choice to go, “Hey, we should be out in front of this, and we should not be on the back foot with having this kind of new pillar of entertainment properly locked down.

You can watch Jack Osbourne’s entire appearance on Great Company with Jamie Laing below:

Jack Osbourne Discusses “Digital Ozzy” Backlash + More (Oct. 21, 2026)

More About A.I. Ozzy Controversy

As noted above, Jack and Sharon Osbourne’s announced their partnership with HYPERREAL (who promise “the future of immersive avatar entertainment”) in May of 2026.

At the time, Sharon explained: “You can ask Ozzy anything and he will answer you in his own voice — and the answers will be what Ozzy would have said. We're going to take it all around the world. People can talk to him and he will talk back.”

Likewise, HYPERREAL CEO Remington Scott told Blabbermouth:

Every element of this avatar was built exclusively from authenticated, approved source material: curated, consented, and controlled by the people who love him most, This is a living performance, not a rendering; and it draws from nothing that wasn't given willingly. We have the enthusiastic participation of Ozzy's family, and that changes everything about what this can be.

Over the next few days, countless Ozzy lovers voiced their concerns about the idea, prompting Jack to address them during a May 22 livestream:

Like, here’s the thing. It’s gonna be so tasteful, what we’re doing. It’s not gonna be fucking lame. It’s not like you can sit there and – it’s really complex, what we’re doing. This isn’t just, like, hooking up an image of my dad to ChatGPT. . . . This is some high-level technology that we're gonna be working with, and it's gonna feel very real. . . . It's kind of wild how it will be utilized. But, it's awesome. It's really cool, and it's something that, you know, I think my dad would be into ‘cause we actually talked about it before he passed, about, like, doing something like this. So, yeah. I know he would be into this.

In early June, both Jack and Sharon commented further on the dicey situation during an episode of The Osbournes Podcast.

As transcribed by Loudwire, Jack stipulated:

What we're doing — this isn't, and I've said it, this isn't ChatGPT with dad's face on it. It's a closed A.I., so it's not connected to the Internet. We build a database and I cannot emphasize enough is that this is only information that either my dad said or was accurate or was written accurately about him. . . . 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.
At the end of the day, if keeping Dad alive and accessible to a fan is cash grab, then fucking guilty as charged because at the end of the day, entertainment and the industry that we're in, none of this is for fucking charity. But the technology that we are utilizing, it is not Claude or ChatGPT that you can ask it any question about anything. It's a closed A.I. module that is not connected to the Internet. Someone said, “Oh, it's dangerous. You can't control it,” and I was, like, "What the fuck do you think this is, Terminator?" It's gonna go sentient and next thing you know Ozzy's gonna launch the nukes? But I think, for me, it's not about pretending he's still alive. For me it's about making sure he's never forgotten.

Sharon added:

Why go on a jet when there's a propeller? What are you doing? Well, you know what? Technology moves on and I'm sorry for those people. I'm not asking you to come. I don't want your fucking money. I don't need your fucking money. I'm doing very well, actually, and I always have my entire life.
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?" And I'd go, "I just don't know, 'cause I'll be probably going with you, so don't ask me." But the thing was, for 10 years we have been exploring it. And the thing is I don't have to justify why we do to any fucker. I don't have to justify.
What do they think we're gonna do? I'm gonna hock my husband around selling weed killer on an ad or selling cigarettes or beer? Do you think I'm gonna do that? … 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 gonna let anyone bastardize my husband.

Originally, the digital Ozzy avatar was set to begin appearing in Proto Luma units over the summer (in the U.K. and U.S.) but that didn’t happen. So, the actual debut of “Digital Ozzy” is still unknown.

Other Osbourne Family News

Ozzy Osbourne producer Andrew Watt recently revealed that he’d recorded songs with the late Prince of Darkness that haven’t been released yet.

Specifically, he told Rolling Stone [via Loudwire]:

There are some songs that we made for a specific reason. And, yeah, that’s all I can say. They're hard for me to listen to. . . . The night before the concert, I actually went in Birmingham with Sharon and a couple of people to go get a curry, and I was texting with Ozzy. He was in his hotel room, and he was, like, “Come to the hotel, come to the hotel.’” I was sitting with Sharon and we were both like, “He has a big day tomorrow. Maybe I shouldn’t go, ‘cause he’ll get excited and everything.”
But [Ozzy] was, like, “No, you’re coming to the hotel. You are coming.” So I went. I brought a curry with me and sat with him. And he was drawing like he usually does, and we sat and we listened to the stuff that we’d made, and made notes. That and the next day were the last times I got to see him. But we had a beautiful listening session and talked about a lot of stuff.

In case you missed it, Loudwire Nights host Chuck Armstrong caught up with some very important guests at the Oct. 14 Ozzy & Black Sabbath: Back to the Beginning film premiere at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles.

For instance, he asked Sharon about Ozzy’s contributions to the world outside of his music, and she replied: “It's weird because there were people that were lovers of his music and then there were people that just loved him as his whole persona.”

Likewise, bassist Geezer Butler told Armstrong that the first thing he thinks about when he reflects on the Back to the Beginning farewell concert was “getting back to Aston where we all started. We never played in Aston apart from rehearsal in the old days.”

You can read all about the film premiere here!

How do you feel about Jack Osbourne’s latest comments regarding A.I. Ozzy? Have your feelings changed about the family’s plan regarding a digital version of the Prince of Darkness? Let us know!

Also, keep scrolling to see our list of the 35 best metal albums of 1991 (including Ozzy’s No More Tears, of course)!