Kelly Osbourne, the daughter of iconic rock stars Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne, has led a life of highs and lows.
In a candid episode of TMZ Investigates: Matthew Perry & The Secret Celebrity Drug Ring, Osbourne opened up about her battle with addiction and her early experiences in rehab.
Her remarks provided a raw and unfiltered glimpse into the reality of addiction recovery and the challenges she faced in her personal journey.
Alongside her reflection on addiction, Osbourne has also admitted to harbouring regrets about her decision to quit music, leaving fans curious about what could have been.
Osbourne, who was first admitted to rehab at the age of 19, shocked many by describing rehab not as a place of healing but as an institution where she learned “tricks” to further her addiction.
In the episode, she compared her initial rehab experience to a “university on how to be a better drug addict,” explaining that she learned more destructive behaviours from fellow patients than methods of recovery.
“First rehab I went to was like university on how to be a better drug addict,” Osbourne stated.
“I’d learned so many tricks, so many things that I never even thought of from my fellow addicts that were in there.”
Osbourne’s harrowing insights also included her observations of people manipulating the system to get what they wanted.
She recounted how some patients would threaten to leave the facility until they were given medications like Ambien for sleep or Valium for anxiety.
“I’d also seen people threaten to leave until they got given what they wanted… they’d end up getting it,” she added, reflecting on how the system often enabled these behaviours.
Osbourne also brought attention to the predatory behaviour of so-called “body brokers” who prey on vulnerable individuals seeking recovery.
These brokers, according to Osbourne, loiter outside Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meetings, targeting those who appear weak or at risk of relapse.
Their motive? To encourage relapse so they can profit by bringing individuals back into the system.
“They’ll sit outside of AA meetings looking for weak and vulnerable people that they encourage to relapse so they can then pick you up again,” she claimed.
“I swear on everything that it is true, and it is heartbreaking.”
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While her experiences in rehab were far from positive, Osbourne did share a touching memory of the late actor Matthew Perry, who tragically passed away in November 2023.
In a moment of compassion, Perry reached out to a young Osbourne during her first AA meeting, recognizing her discomfort and anxiety.
“It was the very first AA meeting I ever went to,” Osbourne recalled on The Osbournes podcast.
“I was shitting myself about being in there and there were so many people, and I hated it. I didn’t think that I belonged.”
Perry approached her, offering a simple yet impactful gesture.
He handed her a 60-second chip, a small token used in recovery to mark a person’s clean time.
He told her, “Just hold this for 60 seconds. If you can get through that, you can get through the next 60 seconds.”
In addition to her candid revelations about addiction, Kelly Osbourne recently expressed regret over her decision to leave the music industry behind.
Speaking on The Osbournes podcast, the 39-year-old admitted that she has often thought about what her life might have been like had she continued her music career.
“I’ve definitely thought about it and what life would have been like if I hadn’t stopped,”
Osbourne shared. “It’s definitely a regret. Will I do anything about that regret? I don’t know.”
Osbourne’s brief but notable music career peaked in the early 2000s.
She scored a chart-topping hit with her father, Ozzy Osbourne, in 2003 with a duet of Black Sabbath’s classic track “Changes.”
Her solo albums Shut Up (2002) and Sleeping In The Nothing (2005) earned her some recognition.
Still, the pressures of balancing work and personal life eventually took their toll.
“I was doing so much TV, I was doing so much touring, so much publicity and so many interviews, and I wanted to go out and have fun. I didn’t want it to be all work and no play,” she explained.
Her insecurities and the constant comparisons to her famous father pushed her toward substance abuse, which she used to cope with the overwhelming demands of fame.
“I also covered up a lot of my insecurity and a lot of the nay-saying and comparisons and just shit-talking with drugs,” she added.
“I was not myself with it. It kind of went hand in hand, and I had to choose myself over all of that.”
Although Osbourne stepped away from the music industry, she succeeded as a television personality, hosting shows like Fashion Police and serving as a judge on Australia’s Got Talent.
She has also appeared on Loose Women and The Masked Singer UK.
In 2023, Osbourne experienced a new chapter in her life when she and Slipknot’s Sid Wilson welcomed their first child, a son named Sidney, making Ozzy Osbourne a grandfather for the 10th time.
Though music is no longer her focus, Osbourne embraces her family legacy, famously acknowledging her status as a “nepo baby” in an interview with Rolling Stone.
“I’m proud of my parents’ achievements,” she stated.
“I think that what they have done is incredible, history-making. I go so far as to say both of them are iconic.”
