Jack Osbourne has opened up about his relationship with older sister Aimee Osbourne in a podcast appearance recorded just weeks before the siblings reunited to mourn their late father, rock legend Ozzy Osbourne.
The Osbourne family rose to fame in the early 2000s with their MTV reality series The Osbournes, which followed Ozzy, wife Sharon, and children Jack and Kelly. Aimee, however, chose not to participate in the show in an effort to maintain privacy and focus on a music career independent of the family spotlight.
Speaking on the Disrespectfully podcast, Jack, 39, revealed that he and Aimee, 41, have long been estranged and don’t share a close bond. “We’re not close at all,” Jack said. “We don’t have a great relationship. She’ll be the first to tell you that. It’s no secret.”
He explained: “Back then she really wanted to be a musician, kind of like Fiona Apple or Mazzy Star; moody, obscure, mysterious. She saw the MTV show as low-hanging fruit and didn’t want to be seen as riding coattails. Once the show became a hit, she felt she couldn’t go back on that decision without looking like she was jumping on the bandwagon.”
Aimee has since released music under the name ARO, using her initials to maintain some artistic separation. Despite their strained relationship, Jack admitted he’s never directly asked her whether she regrets opting out of the show, but speculated: “There must be a level of, ‘Hey, my life might’ve been different if I’d done that.’”
Although Aimee has remained largely out of the public eye, she made a rare public appearance last month at her father’s funeral. Ozzy Osbourne passed away on July 22 at the age of 76. His funeral cortege travelled through his hometown of Birmingham, with thousands of fans lining the streets to pay tribute.
Aimee joined her family (including mother Sharon, brother Jack, and estranged sister Kelly) for the emotional farewell, putting long-standing differences aside to honour their father.
Kelly and Aimee have publicly acknowledged their complicated relationship over the years. In a 2021 appearance on the Armchair Expert podcast, Kelly said: “We don’t talk. We’re just really different. She doesn’t understand me and I don’t understand her.”
Aimee echoed similar sentiments in a 2015 interview with The Independent, saying: “I wouldn’t say there is an ease between us, but there is an acceptance. Do we socialise? No.”
Sharon has also spoken candidly about the impact of Aimee’s early decision to move out and reject the family’s public lifestyle. “It broke my heart,” she said on The Talk in 2018. “She didn’t want to grow up on camera… and I regret every day that she left.”
Ozzy and Sharon were married for 43 years and shared three children together; Aimee, Kelly, and Jack. Ozzy also had three children, Louis, Jessica, and Elliot, from his first marriage to Thelma Riley.