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Sharon Osbourne responds after Amanda Holden calls her ‘bitter and pathetic’

Osbourne told Holden that Simon Cowell had not been the one to make her rich and famous and added that the money he had paid her ‘went on a few handbags’

Ellie Muir
Saturday 13 April 2024 08:04 EDT
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Sharon Osbourne and Louis Walsh launch into scathing rant about Simon Cowell

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Sharon Osbourne has responded after Amanda Holden appeared to brand her as “bitter and pathetic” – telling the radio host she would “never be in my league”.

Britain’s Got Talent judge Holden criticised Osbourne and her former X Factor co-judge Louis Walsh for the way they spoke about Simon Cowell during their joint stint on Celebrity Big Brother earlier this year.

While appearing on the reality show, Osbourne and Walsh, who both worked together on X Factor with Cowell, shared their unfiltered opinions about the talent manager.

Osbourne claimed Cowell didn’t renew her contract for X Factor, and that “he doesn’t know how to keep friends”. Walsh said he didn’t speak to Cowell anymore.

Holden, 53, told The Daily Mail: “I hated seeing certain people in a reality show dissing Simon – he’s the person who’s given them all the chances, given them a lot of money and a lifestyle they probably wouldn’t have had.”

“It’s bitter and pathetic. It was like Cinderella with her two sisters in the background - just stabby, stabby, stabby.”

Holden is currently a judge of Britain’s Got Talent alongside Cowell, 64, and the pair are good friends.

She continued: “I thought, ‘Oh my God, it’s like watching a pantomime.’ I just think they look so nasty and awful.”

Osbourne has now publicly responded to those comments on X/Twitter, tagging Holden in a post that said: “I am responding to your interview with the @DailyMail of 12 April.”

Sharon Osbourne told Holden that the ‘brand of Sharon Osbourne is known worldwide’
Sharon Osbourne told Holden that the ‘brand of Sharon Osbourne is known worldwide’ (Getty Images)

The former X Factor judge disputed Holden’s claims that Cowell had given her “chances” and “a lot of money”.

“The truth is, you don’t know me, Amanda,” began Osbourne. You know nothing about my history in the music industry, my achievements, the artists I have worked with, the shows that I’ve produced, and my global celebrity.”

“Unlike you, the brand of Sharon Osbourne is known worldwide.”

She told Holden that they will never be in the same league and that they inhabit “totally different” worlds.

The beginning of Osbourne’s X/Twitter message to Holden
The beginning of Osbourne’s X/Twitter message to Holden (Twitter via @MrsSOsbourne)

“There are many countries that I could work in if I choose to however, I don’t have the ambition or time to do so, and unlike you, I don’t work in radio or pantomime.”

She continued: “I have been blessed with an amazing lifestyle throughout my entire life.  Before you were born, I was living in a mansion in Beverly Hills and continue to do so today and continue to have my country estate in England as well.”

Osbourne claimed her “money and success” were not a result of appearing in Cowell’s talent shows, but came from her reality show The Osbournes, as well as her music career prior to X Factor.

Sharon Osbourne and Louis Walsh on ‘Celebrity Big Brother'
Sharon Osbourne and Louis Walsh on ‘Celebrity Big Brother' (Shutterstock for Big Brother)

“Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed doing them at the time as they were great fun. Yes, Simon paid me very well. Probably more than what you’re receiving today, but all of that my darling went on a few handbags.”

Osbourne then continues to state a list of her own accomplishments, such as being the author and producer of the hit MTV show The Osbournes, for which she received an Emmy Award.

“Amanda, I think you’re missing the point here. No disrespect to Simon Cowell but he NEEDED ME for musical credibility on X Factor and I delivered for him and together all of us made a great team.”

Simon Cowell created ‘X Factor’ in 2004 and ‘Got Talent’ in 2006
Simon Cowell created ‘X Factor’ in 2004 and ‘Got Talent’ in 2006 (Getty Images)

The Independent has contacted representatives for Holden and Cowell for comment.

Osbourne added that in case Holden was “living under a rock”, she is married to a Ozzy Osbourne “a music icon who has sold 170 albums, won five Grammy Awards and is a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductee”.

“We have been married 42 years and we had a fantastic lifestyle before I ever heard of Simon Cowell.”

She concluded: “The bottom line, Amanda, is, that you’ll never be in my league, and you’ve picked on the wrong ugly stepsister.”

In the latest season of Celebrity Big Brother, Walsh and Osbourne did not hold back in sharing their opinions of other celebrities and musicians. Walsh called Irish pop duo Jedward “vile” in one episode, and they responded online calling him “a weirdo”.

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