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Sharon Osbourne Decries Block Booking ‘Pissing Match’ (Exclusive)
– Sharon Osbourne
Sharon Osbourne, wife and manager of Ozzy Osbourne, went public Feb. 7 with her objections to AEG Live’s attempt to “block book” Ozzy’s final routing by requiring the “No More Tours 2” to play Staples Center in Los Angeles if it booked The O2 in London on the same tour cycle.
And less then 24 hours later, AEG’s Jay Marciano and AzoffMSG’s Irving Azoff have jumped into the fray and the Osbournes are making thinly veiled legal threats over the booking policy.
In an exclusive interview with Pollstar Feb. 8, Sharon Osbourne referred to the dispute between promoters as “a pissing match.”
The floodgates appear open, with Marciano responding to the public missive with a note of his own to Sharon, followed shortly by a statement from Azoff.
“Please understand this dispute is between The Forum and Staples Center and we couldn’t agree with you more — it should always be the artist’s choice. We long for the days when artists and fans came first,” Marciano emailed Sharon, followed by a “PS – The other guys started this first!”
The spat began when Pollstar and other outlets obtained a copy of Sharon’s letter to AEG Presents Chairman Marciano chastising him for attempting to “strong-arm” an artist into performing at Staples Center, and including a copy of an unsigned letter of commitment to play that venue.
In the letter, addressed to “Mr. Marciano” on Sharon Osbourne’s letterhead, she wrote: “Shame on AEG for bringing artists into a power struggle you’re having with your competitor, Live Nation,” Sharon wrote to Marciano. “[W]ithout the artists there would be no AEG, no Live Nation, no promoters, agents or managers. The artists should always come first. Never forget that!”
The letter was accompanied by an unsigned copy of a “Staples Center Commitment” document that outlines AEG’s “new booking policy” which essentially stipulates that if Ozzy Osbourne pencils in dates at The O2 in London for his recently announced farewell tour, he will play Staples Center at least once if he does any shows within a 25-mile radius of Los Angeles.
The letter comes in context of ongoing competition between industry titans AEG and Live Nation, in which Billboard reported Neil Diamond’s agent Marc Geiger was “squeezed” by Irving Azoff to play the Forum in the L.A. market if the artist wanted to play Madison Square Garden Arena and J. Cole was similarly pushed to play Staples Center last year.
Azoff provided Billboard a statement last year that characterized the competition between AEG and Live Nation as “good, tough business” and explained that with limited slots available at a venue as popular as the Garden, premium nights go to friends of MSG. Full disclosure: Irving Azoff is affiliated with Oak View Group, Pollstar’s parent company, and spoke at the Pollstar Live! conference Feb. 7.
Marciano told Billboard last year that AEG Live would rather not change its practices, but the company had to “protect our business.”
Osbourne concluded her letter with the statement: “There’s enough for everyone without you trying to monopolize the world of entertainment.” She was a panelist at Pollstar Live! the same day.
Representatives from AEG couldn’t comment for this story at press time.
In a post-panel interview with Pollstar, Sharon Osbourne stressed that “a pissing match between two giant companies is none of my business; I truly don’t care how they choose to conduct their business. But when it affects my family it becomes my business.”
Her husband and client, Ozzy Osbourne, announced his “No More Tours 2” farewell outing Feb. 6. Shows made public to date include mostly amphitheatres, including a Hollywood Bowl concert Oct. 11. But as the booking process moves forward into 2019, and holds were requested at London’s O2, Live Nation and Osbourne’s team received the letter requesting signatures indicating agreement to play only Staples Center if another indoor LA dates is booked on the tour cycle.
“Ozzy loves the Forum, and isn’t as comfortable at Staples Center,” Sharon explained. “He played the Forum when he was 21! He is 70 now. And he loves The O2 in London. These are arenas he wants to be in. They wanted signatures saying we would only play Staples Center if we agreed to The O2 and they could sue us if we didn’t. So I said, ‘fuck you.'”