Sharon Osbourne has said she wants her $900,000 donation back from Black Lives Matter in a recent on-the-spot interview with TMZ.
The 69-year-old music manager and wife of Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne was being asked her opinion on Kanye West's White Lives Matter fiasco at Paris Fashion Week - where the rapper sported a t-shirt emblazoned with the phrase.
'White Lives Matter' is widely considered to be an appropriation of the 'Black Lives Matter' slogan used to protest racial injustice, discrimination, and police brutality. The phrase is categorized by the Anti-Defamation League as a hate slogan.
Filming Osbourne as she strolled down Hollywood's Rodeo Drive, reporters asked her: "Have you seen everything that's going on with Kanye West [...] He went on Fox News to talk to Tucker Carlson to double down, and everyone wants to cancel him, what do you think?"
She responded: "I don't understand why white lives don't matter. I don't understand it. It's not my thing, it's not my culture. I don't understand any of it. Everybody's lives matter, don't they?"
"Do you agree with Kanye's point?" Osbourne was then asked.
"I don't know what his point is. I don't know, that's why I say I can't answer it - I really don't know what his point is," she replied.
Reporters then told her Kanye had stated that: "Everyone knows that Black Lives Matter was a scam."
The 45-year-old rapper, who now goes by Ye, had originally posted that on his Instagram story, adding: "Now it's over, you're welcome."
In response to TMZ, Sharon stated: "Oh, well, we gave $900,000 to that," before quipping: "I'd like my money back, please. Wish he could've said that before!"
The former X Factor judge then went on to say: "You can't stop people living their lives, doing what they do. Don't go to his social media, don't listen to his music, leave the guy alone."
Ye's statement about the Black Lives Matter movement came amid controversy surrounding his decision to wear a White Lives Matter shirt at his recent Yeezy fashion show.
The Black Lives Matter movement's aim is centered on spotlighting the inherent racial inequality and racism experienced by Black people, and rose to prominence after the murder of George Floyd in 2020. The movement sparked thousands of protests across the globe, and made history with its commitment to highlighting the structural inequalities holding marginalized groups back.
Black Lives Matter, however, has not been without controversy. In 2021, the mothers of two boys killed by police - Samaria Rice, mother to 12-year-old Tamir Rice, and Lisa Simpson, mother of 18-year-old Richard Risher - admonished the movement for profiting off their son's deaths.
Simpson accused the movement of raising $5,000 for her son's funeral, yet claims she never received the funds, per the New York Post.
"We never hired them to be the representatives in the fight for justice for our dead loved ones murdered by the police," Rice and Simpson said in their joint statement.
"The 'activists' have events in our cities and have not given us anything substantial for using our loved ones' images and names on their flyers. We don't want or need y'all parading in the streets accumulating donations, platforms, movie deals, etc. off the death of our loved ones, while the families and communities are left clueless and broken," the statement continued.
Breonna Taylor's mom also blasted the movement in a now-deleted Facebook post, writing: "I have never personally dealt with BLM Louisville and personally have found them to be fraud [sic]."
The statements from Taylor, Rice, and Simpson came soon after The New York Post had revealed that the movement's co-founder, Patrisse Khan-Cullors, had purchased several homes worth millions of dollars.
