{"id":468196,"date":"2026-06-09T10:23:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T10:23:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/468196\/"},"modified":"2026-06-09T10:23:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T10:23:08","slug":"sharon-and-jack-osbourne-defend-ai-ozzy-avatar-amidst-cash-grab-allegations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/468196\/","title":{"rendered":"Sharon and Jack Osbourne defend AI Ozzy avatar amidst \u201ccash grab\u201d allegations"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sharon and Jack Osbourne have struck back at allegations that their plan to generate an AI avatar of Ozzy<\/a> is a \u201ccash grab\u201d.<\/p>\n

During the new episode of the family\u2019s podcast The Osbournes, the mother and son tackle the fallout from their announcement last month that they are producing a new AI program with \u201cthe digital DNA of Ozzy Osbourne\u201d.<\/p>\n

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Many on social media accused the family of \u201ccashing in\u201d on or \u201cmilking\u201d Ozzy\u2019s legacy after the news broke, claims that the two reject. Ozzy\u2019s wife Sharon says she \u201cfeels sorry\u201d for the people lambasting the idea.<\/p>\n

Latest Videos From Louder<\/p>\n

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\u201cWell, you know what, technology moves on,\u201d she says (via Consequence<\/a>). \u201cAnd I\u2019m sorry for those people. I\u2019m not asking you to come. I don\u2019t want your fucking money. I don\u2019t need your fucking money. I\u2019m doing very well.\u201d<\/p>\n

She adds that she thinks Ozzy would be in favour of the project: \u201cFor somebody to turn around to me and say I\u2019m doing a cash grab? No, you don\u2019t know my husband, OK? I know my husband. My husband would say to me over and over, \u2018After I go, how long do you think I\u2019ll be remembered?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Jack adds, \u201cEither we do it or someone else is gonna do it. And for me, it\u2019s not about pretending he\u2019s still alive. It\u2019s making sure he\u2019s never forgotten.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ozzy died on July 22, 2025, aged 71, after suffering a heart attack at his home in Buckinghamshire. He had retired from the stage two weeks earlier at the Back To The Beginning concert in his hometown of Birmingham. He played sets both as a solo artist and with his fellow founding members of Black Sabbath at the event, with support coming from rock and metal heavyweights including Metallica<\/a>, Guns N\u2019 Roses<\/a>, Tool<\/a>, Gojira<\/a> and Mastodon<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Plans for an interactive AI avatar modelled after him were unveiled during a panel called The Enduring Legacy Of A Rock Icon And His Family: Ozzy Osbourne And The Osbournes at the Licensing Expo 2026 in Las Vegas. Jack said that \u201cit\u2019s kind of scary\u201d how true the avatar will be to the singer\u2019s mannerisms.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe will exist digitally as himself for as long as we have computers,\u201d he continued. \u201cTechnology has come such a long way to where it\u2019s almost drag and drop. You could shoot a template for a commercial \u2026 literally prompt what you want Digital Ozzy to do in that commercial and you just drop it in. It\u2019s that simple now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sharon added, \u201cYou can ask Ozzy anything, and he will answer you in his own voice \u2013 and the answers will be what Ozzy would have said. We\u2019re going to take it all around the world. People can talk to him and he will talk back.\u201d<\/p>\n

The avatar is being produced by Hyperreal, who in 2021 made an officially licensed de-aged AI Paul McCartney for the former Beatle\u2019s song Find My Way Back, featuring Beck. CEO Remington Scott commented, \u201cThe technology to de-age talent and have them perform in creative environments like this is now fully-realised, even with one of the most recognised faces in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

As well as an AI avatar dedicated to the Prince Of Darkness, Jack is currently overseeing the development of an Ozzy biopic. He revealed last month that a script has been written<\/a> and that it will come out in 2028 or later.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sharon and Jack Osbourne have struck back at allegations that their plan to generate an AI avatar of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":468197,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[156,157,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-468196","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-entertainment","tag-music","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468196","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=468196"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468196\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/468197"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=468196"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=468196"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=468196"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}