Sharon Xplodes
EXCLUSIVE My brother disgusts me .. his claims are a load of old b******* David's despicable ..he has traded my name for money
Sharon Osbourne yesterday laid bare the bitter feud at the heart of her family.
The X Factor star is reeling over her brother's claims that she ignored their father's dying wish to be buried next to their mum and backstabs her A-List friends.
David Arden, 56, alleged in a Sunday newspaper that Sharon smeared excrement over Sir Elton John's Rolls-Royce, sought cosmetic surgery during cancer treatment and secretly loathes fellow X Factor judges Simon Cowell and Dannii Minogue.
Speaking exclusively to the Daily Mirror, Sharon hit back at him and reveals she has had to call her famous friends to set the record straight.
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Sharon, 54, says: "My brother's claims are a load of old b******s. He can say whatever he likes about me, but not my family and friends. Say hurtful things about them and I'll come out fighting.
"He has dragged their names through the mud so I've had to call them all to say sorry because I'm so embarrassed that this man is my brother. I swear on my children's lives, and may I go down in a plane tomorrow if I lie, but there is not one ounce of truth in those ugly little stories."
Sharon, married to rocker Ozzy for 25 years and mother of Aimee, 24, Kelly, 22, and 21-year-old Jack, talks with extraordinary candour about the family fall-out.
And she claims her brother is an ex con trading on her famous name after she stopped funding his lifestyle.
She says: "My brother disgusts me. I can't do the politically correct thing and pretend I'm the grieving sister because he's despicable.
"I've paid him millions over the years. I picked up the bill for his cars, houses, holidays and even his daughter's private schooling, braces and ponies.
"Only six weeks ago I told my accountants to write off his outstanding loan of £80,000 as a gift. But as soon as my cheques stopped, he traded my name for money and tried to skim off my friends' famous names.
I had to call Elton and Simon to apologise, not because I said or did any of those things but because he dragged their names through the mud. I felt forced to explain his criminal background.
"My brother was busted for cocaine possession in Los Angeles two years ago and although I bailed him out for £5,000 that's when I decided I didn't want him hanging around my family. He'd already been sentenced to two years in jail for blackmail, has been done for drunk driving and been bankrupt twice.
"In 1996 he was arrested for beating my father over the head with a rolling pin. I didn't want people to know that, but I had to explain the source of the story."
Sharon worried her brother's tales that she secretly hated Simon Cowell and believed he is gay would jeopardise her jobs on The X Factor and America's Got Talent - both Simon's shows.
She says: "Simon's my boss, so of course I worried he might sack me. He called me before I had the chance to call him and said he was sorry about everything my brother said because it was so unnecessary, distasteful and unpleasant.
"He was hurt. But he said 'what do you expect? We are the number one show in Britain and people will hit out at us because they're jealous'.
"Simon's given me amazing opportunities on the top shows in the UK, so I'm eternally grateful. As a businesswoman, why on earth would I leave or sabotage that show - especially when I'm having a blast? At this point, I don't think Simon is considering firing me. And right now I've no intention of leaving the show.
"And I've spoken to Elton and David Furnish loads of times since then. Elton and I have known each other for 30 years so he didn't believe a word of it. They know that the more celebrity names my brother packed in his story, the more he'd get paid. But I felt I needed to call in case they had even the tiniest seed of doubt."
As if on cue, Sir Elton calls Sharon in the middle of our interview and they have an affectionate chat, which ends with Sharon cooing: "I love you too."
For the first time, Sharon explains her decision to bury their father Don Arden, nicknamed the Al Capone of pop, in Salford, rather than in Surrey next to their mother when he died in July.
She says: "When dad died, I sat with him a long time before he was put into his coffin and said everything I wanted to say to him. I didn't cry, because anyone who knows anything about having a relative with Alzheimer's knows you grieve for them when the disease takes hold.
"I have cried so many times over the years, so in the end I was relieved he's been released from the discomfort of life in a wheelchair.
My brother said dad wanted to be buried in a churchyard in Surrey with my mum. But although he came back into my life in 2002 when Alzheimer's had started to take hold, he never once told me that.
"Dad was a Jew and his sister, nephew and girlfriend all insisted he wanted to be buried in a Jewish cemetery in his hometown. So who was I to believe - my brother or three other people?
"The reason I didn't go to his funeral was because I couldn't bear to have one side of the family staring daggers at the other over his coffin.
"I couldn't win. Instead I paid for it all and stayed away. I'll be there for the head stone laying ceremony in November.
"But I'll never visit my mum's grave. I'd be the world's biggest hypocrite if I did because I didn't like her and didn't communicate with her."
Of all her brother's attacks, Sharon feels his most painful were against her children and husband.
"To bring my kids into this was the icing on my brother's disgusting cake. Why doesn't anyone ask my kids if they think I'm a bad mother? They never liked their uncle and have rallied around. Even Minnie, my Pomeranian dog, didn't like him and was always biting at his heels.
"My brother said that for the first nine years of my marriage I wanted to get off with another bloke. B******s. My husband's not a f*****g dummy. He knows when someone loves him and would have left years ago if he thought I didn't.
"As for having cosmetic surgery during cancer treatment, there isn't a doctor in the world who would do that and I wouldn't have asked them to. I've always been open about having work done, but while I had cancer? No f***ing way."
Finally, Sharon jokingly refutes her brother's details about her financial affairs. "He said I paid £5million on my new house. How dare he? It cost £12,500,000 - he's trying to make me out to be cheap. I'm offended!"
Sharon was not paid for this interview, but asked us to make a donation to the RSPCA.
..ON SIMON COWELLl
Yes, I jokingly say he's secretly gay. But I call everyone an old tart - Even Ozzy. But it's quite obvious Simon's not. His partner Terri Seymour is a great woman. So when I called him an old tart he was hurt, but to me it's a term of endearment.
And yes, we have our fall-outs on set when I disagree with his opinion on acts.
Simon's funny, amazingly good company, is direct but also compassionate. But I'm not a bull s****er. I love, respect and admire him but can't say we're close, close friends. He's too busy for me, and I am for him.
..ON DANNII MINOGUE
Why would I be jealous of Dannii? That's very demeaning to me. What does she have that I could possibly want? Her looks, well I've paid for mine! Her youth? I love my age and have never hidden it.
I'm 54 and want to be a grandmother. Dannii's 36 and wants to be a mother. Our lives are on different planes. We're from different generations. What do people want me to do to convince them I've got no problem with Dannii - have cocktails together? Sorry, but that won't happen because I'm not looking to go dancing to meet a bloke.
When you're my age, your friends are people who've been with you for years. After filming, I go home to my family and Dannii does her own thing. We have a professional relationship, rather than best friends. But she's very gracious, very decent and warm and that's all I know about Dannii.
..ON THE BECKHAMS
Despite my brother's story, I never said I hated footballers and their cheap wives. The only footballer I know is David Beckham and I'd like to ravish him! And I think Victoria is anything but cheap. I like Victoria a lot. She's got a sassy personality and a wicked sense of humour.
..ON STING
Me and Ozzy's feeling for Sting go back to the 80s. I respect him as a musician, father and human being. But does he annoy me? Yes! All that transsexual sex - I mean Tantric sex! How can anyone be so f*****g perfect?
..ON MADONNA
I do dislike Madonna. She annoys me. I've met her a few times and found her very cold and very rude. She's annoyed me for years though, way before all the buying a baby thing.
..ON ELTON & DAVID
I've loved Elton for over 30 years and feel the same about David. Of course I didn't do any thing horrible to his Rolls-Royce back in the 70s. Nothing anyone could say could dent our friendship.
..ON COURTNEY LOVE
That's one thing my brother got right - I will never have time for Courtney Love. She was the first person to give my son Jack the prescription drug OxyContin. There's not a shadow of a doubt about that. My dislike towards her is very personal.
I'm not saying Jack wouldn't have taken it if she hadn't given it to him, but I'm appalled that an adult mother would give that to a 15-year-old boy. How could she do that to someone else's child? I haven't had a row with her, but I will never talk to her.
Mirror
