Jack Osbourne defends family's decision to create an AI avatar of his late father Ozzy and insists it isn't a 'cash grab'

Jack Osbourne has defended his family's decision to create an AI avatar of his late father Ozzy and insisted that it isn't a 'cash grab'.

Following the Black Sabbath frontman's death aged 76 in July last year, his widow Sharon, 74, revealed the family inked an agreement with AI avatar company Hyperreal And Proto Hologram, which specialises in lifelike 3D holograms.

She revealed earlier this year that fans would be able to speak with the AI recreation, saying at the Licensing Expo 2026: 'The things that you can do with that are just endless.'

I'm A Celeb star Jack, 40, has now defended the decision saying he wants to be 'out in front' when it comes to the new technology.

Speaking on Jamie Laing's Great Company podcast, he said: 'Yeah, we're doing this...'.

Jamie then chipped in: 'And you know, by the way, I know you got backlash for it but I think it's a great idea. I love it.'

Jack then said: 'Well you know, there was backlash. It was my own fault. I you know, it was like we had just kind of figured this thing out and that we were going to do it and I guess I wasn't properly armed with the way to properly explain what it was.

'And I think people thought that, you know, next thing you know, it's going to be Ozzy Osbourne, you know, doing freaking, you know, selling, you know, cell phones. It's like no, we and a lot of people are doing this now'

'We are creating this digital fingerprint you ultimately will own the digital IP and image of that person.

'It was our choice to go, hey, we should be out in front of this and we should not be, you know, on the back foot with having this kind of new pillar of entertainment properly locked down.'

Sharon and Jack had previously defended the decision in the wake of criticism, as they spoke on their The Osbournes podcast recently, where she insisted the avatar will also be 'for their grandkids'.  

Sharon said: 'I was reading some, and it's like, 'Oh, f**k off. Give me a break. The thing is, it's like saying when there were propellers and then there were jet planes. 'Oh, well, cash grab! Why go on a jet when there's a propeller? What are you doing?'

'Well, you know what, technology moves on. And I'm sorry for those people. I'm not asking you to come. I don't want your f**king money. I don't need your f**king money. I'm doing very well.'

She continued on her tangent, saying: 'And the thing is, for somebody to turn around to me and say I'm doing a cash grab? No, you don't know my husband, OK? I know my husband. 

'And my husband would say to me over and over, 'After I go, how long do you think I'll be remembered? How long do you think?' And I go, 'I just don't know, cause I'll probably be going with you. So, don't ask me.''

'[It's something] that will pass on through our family, and it's for our grandkids.'

Jack said: 'I have so much I want to unpack with this because what we're doing ... isn't ChatGPT with dad's face on it. This is a closed AI....

'So it's not connected to the internet. We build a database. And the thing that I cannot emphasize enough is that this is only information that either my dad said or was accurate or was written accurately...

'[It will] be tasteful and the reaction… It's innovative. It's either we do it or someone else is gonna do it. For me, it's not about pretending he's still alive. It's making sure he's never forgotten...

'The most important thing for me is that when we create this digital imprint of dad, we create it. We own it. We control it.' 

While announcing the plans at Licensing Expo 2026 in London, Sharon said: 'The things that you can do with that are just endless...

'You can ask [the digital] Ozzy anything, and he will answer you in his own voice - and the answers will be what Ozzy would have said. We're going to take it all around the world. People can talk to him and he will talk back...

'Elvis died 50 years ago, and everybody knows Elvis. I just want that for Ozzy.'

Hyperreal says that it has recreated the Black Sabbath icon's personality using patented 'Digital DNA' technology.

CEO Remington Scott told the Daily Mail that this 'captures all four dimensions of a person's identity: likeness, voice, motion, and performance character'.

He added that this data comes from 'authenticated source material: curated, consented, and controlled by the people closest to Ozzy'.

What this means in practice is that the digital avatar will be able to interact with fans in real time in a way that approximates Ozzy's real mannerisms.

And while Remington said parents shouldn't worry about bringing kids to events, he notes that 'Ozzy will still be Ozzy': 'We're well aware of Ozzy's famously colourful vocabulary, and we wouldn't have it any other way...

'There are guardrails in place, but they're shaped by the people who know and love him best, not by a corporation sanitising his personality'.

The digital avatar will then be rendered using holographic displays created by Proto Hologram.