Sharon Osbourne revealed in her 2007 memoir, Sharon Osbourne Extreme: My Autobiography, that she and husband Ozzy Osbourne had an assisted-suicide pact, agreeing to go to the Swiss assisted dying organization Dignitas if either of them were to suffer from dementia.
It’s been over a decade since Sharon made those initial claims, and both Ozzy and Sharon have doubled-down on their pro-euthanasia stance in interviews since. On the latest episode of the The Osbournes Podcast, which features Sharon and Ozzy in discussion with their son Jack and daughter Kelly, Jack asked his mother if euthanasia was “still a plan.”
“Do you think that we’re gonna suffer?” replied Sharon, prompting a rebuttal from Jack: “Aren’t we already all suffering?”
“Yes, we all are, but I don’t want it to actually hurt, as well,” Sharon continued. “Mental suffering is enough pain without physical. So if you’ve got mental and physical, see ya.”
Kelly then asked, “But what if you could survive?” To which Sharon responded: “Yeah, what if you survived and you can’t wipe your own ass, you’re pissing everywhere, shitting, can’t eat.”
They don’t dive any further into the topic on the podcast, but Sharon’s remarks seem to affirm previous comments made by herself and Ozzy in recent years.
Initially, Sharon and Ozzy mutually made an assisted-suicide pact after the passing of Sharon’s father and music mogul Don Arden in 2007 after he lost his struggle with Alzheimer’s.
“We believe 100 percent in euthanasia,” Sharon said in a 2007 interview with the Daily Mirror, “so [we] have drawn up plans to go to the assisted suicide flat in Switzerland if we ever have an illness that affects our brains. If Ozzy or I ever got Alzheimer’s, that’s it — we’d be off. We gathered the kids around the kitchen table, told them our wishes and they’ve all agreed to go with it.”
More recently, in a 2014 interview with the Daily Mirror, Ozzy revealed that the pact had been extended to include an life-threatening disease or terminal illness, in addition to Alzheimer’s.
“If I can’t live my life the way I’m living it now — and I don’t mean financially — then that’s it…,” he said. “If I can’t get up and go to the bathroom myself and I’ve got tubes up my ass and an enema in my throat, then I’ve said to Sharon, ‘Just turn the machine off.’ If I had a stroke and was paralyzed, I don’t want to be here. I’ve made a will and it’s all going to Sharon if I die before her, so ultimately it will all go to the kids.”
Ozzy has had his share of health issues over the past few years, including an ongoing battle with Parkinson’s disease and a series of spine and neck surgeries after suffering a fall at home in 2019. Thankfully, things are looking up lately, as he has high hopes for 2024. The metal icon is looking to record and release a new album next year, as well as return to the road after being sidelined for five years.
So far, the revived Osbournes Podcast has seen the family speaking candidly and with transparency about its future, especially in regards to Ozzy and Sharon. We recently reported on Sharon’s plans to erect an Ozzy museum in his hometown of Birmingham.
Below you can watch the latest episode, starting with their discussion on euthanasia.
