Kelly Osbourne has slammed WWE’s Becky Lynch for insensitively bringing up Ozzy Osbourne’s death during Raw in his hometown.
The heavy metal icon died at the age of 76 on July 22 ‘surrounded by love’ at his Buckinghamshire estate.
But the Black Sabbath frontman is responsible for placing his hometown of Birmingham firmly on the map.
In fact, days before his death, the ‘Crazy Train’ singer had performed an emotional final show in the city, reuniting the legendary band for the first time in 20 years and raising $190 million for charity.
Ozzy, who’d been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, died of a heart attack, according to the musician’s death certificate.
His life was honored with a procession through Birmingham attended by his wife Sharon Osbourne, four of his six children – Jack, Kelly, Aimee, and Louis. This was followed by a private service in Buckinghamshire.
Kelly Osbourne with her late father, heavy metal legend Ozzy Osbourne (Amy Sussman/Getty Images)
On Monday (August 25), Netflix streamed WWE Raw live from Birmingham’s BP Pulse Live, where wrestlers and Nikki Bella and Lynch faced off.
After Bella provoked Lynch, the latter hit out at both Birmingham and the late Ozzy.
“I’m not wrestling in Birmingham,” she began. “The only good thing that came out of here died a month ago. But in fairness to Ozzy Osbourne, he had the good sense to move to LA, a proper city. Because if I lived in Birmingham, I’d die too.”
Yikes. As you’d expect, the quip didn’t exactly go down well with viewers – or Ozzy’s family.
Since, Kelly has taken to Instagram to scold Lynch for the ‘joke.’
Becky Lynch bringing up Ozzy Osbourne in Birmingham “The only good thing to come out of Birmingham died a month ago! But in fairness to Ozzy Osbourne, at least he moved to LA, a proper city, because if I lived in Birmingham, I’d die too!” #WWERAW
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Posting to her stories, Kelly tagged a fan page for Lynch rather than her personal account, writing: “You are a disrespectful dirtbag! Birmingham would not piss on you if you were on fire. #birminghamforever.
“Shame on the @wwe for allowing such things to be said about my father and his home!!!”
Ozzy and the WWE actually go way back; the musician made a memorable appearance at WrestleMania II in 1986, where he managed The British Bulldogs with Lou Albano to a tag team championship win.
He later returned during the 2000s, guest-hosting Raw with Sharon, while his music heavily featured in WWE programming – most notably, his track ‘I Don’t Wanna Stop’ as the theme for Judgment Day 2007. You’ll still hear Black Sabbath’s ‘War Pigs’ today for WWE’s WarGames events.
(Kelly Osbourne/Instagram)
And in recognition of his contributions, Ozzy was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame (Celebrity Wing) in 2021.
So with all that in mind, other social media users also reckoned Lynch’s comment was out of touch.
Taking to X, formerly Twitter, one person said: “Becky Lynch shoulda just stuck to the boring ‘your football teams are s**t’ attempts at getting heat if she can’t get it any other way. Scraping the barrel with the Ozzy comments… Weird vibes.”
“@BeckyLynchWWE dropping that comment about Ozzy was too soon and not cool,” a second agreed. “Low hanging fruit and I hoped you wouldn’t go there, but you did. Highly disappointing.”
UNILAD has contacted WWE for comment.
Featured Image Credit: Bradlee Rutledge/WWE via Getty Images
Topics: WWE, Wrestling, Ozzy Osbourne, Celebrity, Social Media
Ellie Kemp
Kelly Osbourne breaks silence following the death of her dad Ozzy aged 76
Kelly Osbourne’s rock star father Ozzy passed away at the age of 76 on Tuesday (July 22)
Kelly Osbourne has spoken out following her father’s death.
Kelly is one of three daughters to music legend Ozzy Osbourne who recently died at the age of 76.
His death comes after a 2019 Parkinson’s disease diagnosis. His condition didn’t stop the Black Sabbath frontman performing his final concert just days before his death.
To raise money for charity, Ozzy returned to his hometown of Birmingham, UK, alongside his Black Sabbath bandmates Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Bill Ward. It was the first time the band had reunited on stage of two decades.
Ozzy’s family issued a heartfelt statement the day after his passing. It 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.”
Ozzy Osbourne’s family are devastated following his passing (Harry How/Getty Images)
“He was with his family and surrounded by love. We ask everyone to respect our family privacy at this time,” the statement concluded.
Other that this, the family have mainly remained quiet as they grieve the loss of Ozzy. Kelly, however, has since broken her silence.
Taking to her Instagram story, she quoted Black Sabbath’s song ‘Changes’ writing: “I feel unhappy I am so sad. I lost the best friend I ever had.”
The original song was released in 1972 but Kelly and Ozzy released their own version of the track in 2003, which reached number one on the UK Singles Chart.
Sharon has also broken her social media silence and thanked people for their heartfelt tributes to her late husband.
Kelly described her dad as her ‘best friend’ (FOX via Getty Images)
One tribute came from BBC Radio 1’s Jack Saunders who heard the news of Ozzy’s death while he was on air.
“As I was on air tonight, the news broke that we had lost one of the greatest showman the world of metal and music has ever seen,” the DJ wrote on Instagram.
“The bands and artists that dare to fly the flag in the name of rock n roll do so because Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath did first. He was a blessing to music. Rest In Peace the Prince Of Darkness.”
Replying to the sweet tribute, Sharon penned to Jack: “Jack thank you for your tribute to Ozzy tonight, Bless you.”
Gavin Rossdale also paid his respects to Ozzy and described him as ‘a great man’ and a ‘true legend’.
