Sharon Osbourne revealed 'unexpected' hospital visit
Sharon Osbourne missed the unveiling of a tribute to her late husband Ozzy Osbourne due to an "unexpected" hospital trip.
Sharon Osbourne was forced to make an "unexpected trip" to the hospital this week.
The 73-year-old matriarch has apologised to fans after she missed the unveiling of a statue of her late husband Ozzy Osbourne at France's Hellfest festival on Thursday (18.06.26), which she explained was due to undisclosed medical reasons.
Sharing a video of the statue on Instagram, she wrote: "I'm sorry I couldn't be at Hellfest for the unveiling of Ozzy's statue. Unfortunately I had an unexpected trip to the hospital earlier in the week.
"A big thank you Olivier Garnier, Ben Barbaud and everyone at Hellfest. Special thank you to @philippe_pasqua_officiel for the absolutely stunning statue!(sic)"
Sharon offered no further explaination as to why she needed hospital treatment.
Meanwhile, the former X Factor judge recently hit out at critics who have accused her of a "cash grab" amid plans for an AI-powered avatar of Ozzy
The Black Sabbath rocker passed away in July last year aged 76, and his loved ones recently announced their Ozzy AI project, and the Paranoid hitmaker's wife has explained they are simply utilising advances in technology to help Ozzy's legacy endure.
She said on The Osbournes podcast: "Technology moves on. For somebody to turn around to me and say I'm doing a cash grab, no. You don't know my husband. I know my husband. And my husband would say to me over and over, ‘How long do you think I'll be remembered?'
"[It's something] that will pass on through our family, and it's for our grandkids."
Her son Jack Osbourne stressed the venture will be "tasteful" because it uses "closed AI", meaning it isn't connected to the internet and relies on a database containing "only information that either my dad said or was written accurately about him."
Jack added: "This is going to be tasteful and the reaction… It's innovative. It's either we do it or someone else is gonna do itt.
"For me, it's not about pretending he's still alive. It's making sure he's never forgotten."
Sharon and Jack announced the project at The Enduring Legacy of a Rock Icon and His Family: Ozzy Osbourne and The Osbournes talk at Licensing Expo recently, where they confirmed “Digital Ozzy” is already deep in development through a partnership between Hyperreal and Proto Hologram.
Hyperreal - the company behind the patented Digital DNA process - is building Ozzy’s authenticated avatar, while Proto will power the holographic presence that allows the virtual Ozzy to appear, move and speak in real time.
Together, the companies say the technology will enable the avatar to hold conversations with fans and respond exactly as Ozzy would.
Sharon told the audience she was stunned by the creative potential of the project.
She said: “The things that you can do with that are just endless."
Not everyone is convinced, but Jack insists people are going to be amazed by how lifelike it is.
Responding to the backlash on his YouTube channel, he said: “Here’s the thing, it’s gonna be so tasteful what we’re doing. It’s not gonna be f****** lame.
“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, and it’s kind of wild how it will be utilised.”
