Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne have condemned President Donald Trump for playing the song “Crazy Train” in a video posted to his Twitter account teasing the 2020 Democratic candidates.
The doctored video clip, which Trump posted Thursday morning, incorporates footage of the first round of primary Democratic debates that took place Wednesday night, and shows Trump appearing at the debate with Osbourne’s 1980 hit playing in the background. Trump posted the video as a jab at NBC after the network experienced technical difficulties during their live coverage — a snafu that forced the network to cut to a commercial break. The edited clip is one of two tweets Trump posted from the debates criticizing NBC’s debate moderators Rachel Maddow and Chuck Todd.
“Thank you, @MSNBC, real professionals! @chucktodd @maddow,” Trump tweeted.
In a statement, the Osbournes said, “Based on this morning’s unauthorized use of Ozzy Osbourne’s ‘Crazy Train,’ we are sending notice to the Trump campaign (or any other campaigns) that they are forbidden from using any of Ozzy Osbourne’s music in political ads or in any political campaigns. Ozzy’s music cannot be used for any means without approvals.”
Cheekily, the Osbournes offered suggestions on other songs Trump could use. Referencing bold-faced names that have shown vocal support for the president, the couple wrote, “perhaps he should reach out to some of his musician friends. Maybe Kanye West (‘Gold Digger’), Kid Rock (‘I Am the Bullgod’) or Ted Nugent (‘Stranglehold’) will allow use of their music.”
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While Sharon Osbourne famously appeared in the ninth season of Trump’s reality series “The Apprentice,” the media personality has voiced her disdain towards Trump’s politics since he first declared his political ambitions.
“It’s kind of fearful,” she said in an interview with Larry King shortly after his announcement to run for president. “I know a lot of my friends are fearful. We kind of wake up every day and go, ‘What’s gonna happen now?’ You don’t feel secure that everything will be smooth and people are in control of what they should be in control of and running it professionally.”
This isn’t the first time public figures have called out Trump for using their copyrighted content or images to push his own agenda on social media. Queen, R.E.M, Neil Young, Everlast, and Aerosmith have all pushed back when the president has used their music without permission.