Ozzy Osbourne and the heirs of Donna Summer have slammed Kanye West for allegedly using unauthorised samples of their work on his new album.
Ozzy was the first to criticise Kanye on social media on Friday, claiming the rapper used a live recording of Black Sabbath's song Iron Man without Osbourne's permission and against his will.
"Kanye West asked permission to sample a section of a 1983 live performance of 'Iron Man' from the Us Festival without vocals & was refused permission because he is an antisemite and has caused untold heartache to many," the singer wrote in capital letters on Twitter/X. "He went ahead and used the sample anyway at his album listening party last night. I want no association with this man!"
Ozzy's wife Sharon, whose father was Jewish, went on to explain to TMZ that her husband usually clears samples but in the controversial rapper's case, he had "special f**king occasion to say no" as he is a "disrespectful antisemite" who "represents hate".
In late 2022, West made a series of antisemitic statements, including comments praising Adolf Hitler, that resulted in the termination of numerous commercial partnerships. He later apologised for his behaviour.
According to Rolling Stone, the rapper ultimately released the song Carnival on his collaborative album with Ty Dolla $ign, VULTURES1 without the sample, with a generic fuzzy synth bass riff taking the place of the Sabbath sample.
However, the rapper has quickly been hit with another controversy as another track features lines with an identical melody to parts of Summer's disco dance anthem, I Feel Love.
A statement shared by the official Donna Summer Instagram account, read: "Kanye West asked permission to use Donna Summer's song 'I Feel Love,' he was denied... he changed the words, had someone re-sing it or used AI but it's 'I Feel Love'... copyright infringement!!!"
Summer passed away in 2012 at the age of 63 following a battle with lung cancer.
