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Sharon Osbourne Admits ‘Biggest Mistake’ She Made with Husband Ozzy
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Sharon Osbourne is coming clean about a past decision she made for husband Ozzy Osbourne.
“Do you want to know the biggest mistake I ever made with Ozzy?” Sharon, 72, said on the Wednesday, February 19, episode of “The Magnificent Others With Billy Corgan” podcast. “He got offered to go and read for Pirates of the Caribbean — and I’ve never said this to anyone.”
Host Billy Corgan replied, “And you said no?” Sharon confirmed, adding, “I said no. Now, wouldn’t he have been perfect?”
Corgan and Sharon began laughing at the idea of Ozzy being in the film. “Because when Johnny [Depp] … wanted Keith to be a pirate, you remember?” she asked, referring to Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards, who played Depp’s dad, Captain Teague.
Sharon Osbourne 'Took An Overdose' of Pills After Learning of Ozzy's Affair
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl was released in June 2003, chronicling Captain Jack Sparrow (Depp) and young blacksmith Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) who attempt to rescue Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley) after she is kidnapped by Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush). The film sparked four additional sequels: Dead Man’s Chest (2006), At World’s End (2007), On Stranger Tides (2011) and Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017).
Sharon, for her part, has been married to Ozzy since 1982 and shares daughters Aimee, 41, Kelly, 40, and son Jack, 39. (Ozzy is also the father of daughter Jessica, 51, and son Louis, 49, with ex-wife Thelma Riley.)
Sharon and Ozzy briefly split in 2016 after he reportedly had an affair with hairdresser Michelle Pugh. However, in July 2016, Sharon told The Talk viewers that she had forgiven Ozzy for his infidelity. (Sharon was a host on The Talk from 2010 to 2021.)
“I shouldn’t speak for him. I know he wants to come on this show anyway and talk for himself to you all,” she said at the time. “He feels that he owes everyone here an apology because he’s put us all through it. He’s very embarrassed and ashamed about his conduct.”
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Years later, Ozzy called cheating on Sharon one of the most “outrageous” things he had done. “I regret cheating on my wife,” he told GQ in November 2020. “I don’t do it anymore.”
“I got my reality check and I’m lucky she didn’t leave me,” he continued. “I’m not proud of that. I was pissed off with myself. But I broke her heart.”
The pair have been candid about weathering the storms of their marriage. “He always, always had groupies and I was so used to that,” Sharon said during her January 2024 Sharon Osbourne: Cut The Crap stage show in London per the U.K.’s The Mirror. “But when he knows the name of the person, where they live and where they work … it is a whole different thing as you are emotionally invested. I took, I don’t know how many pills.”
Sharon believed that her children were “older” and could “take care of themselves” without her. “So I took an overdose and locked myself in the bedroom,” she continued. “The maid tried to come in to clean [the] room and saw me.”
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Podcast host Dan Bongino named as deputy FBI director by Trump
Conservative commentator Dan Bongino was named deputy FBI director, President Trump announced on Sunday night.
The big picture: The "Dan Bongino Show" podcast host will serve under newly confirmed FBI director Kash Patel.
- Bongino previously served in the New York Police Department (NYPD) before joining the U.S. Secret Service and working in the Presidential Protective Division during the administrations George W. Bush and Obama administrations.
What they're saying: Bongino thanked Trump on X as he shared the president's original post praising the former Fox News host as "a man of incredible love and passion for our Country."
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Ruby Franke's 11-Year-Old Daughter Speaks Out on ‘Trauma’ from Vlogging Past
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Ruby Franke’s 11-year-old daughter is speaking out about the negative impact her mother’s vlogging had on her life.
Kevin Franke, Ruby’s ex-husband, appeared at a hearing for the House Business, Labor and Commerce Committee in Utah on Tuesday, February 18, where he read a statement on behalf of his 11-year-old daughter, per The Salt Lake Tribune. (Kevin and Ruby share kids Shari, Chad, Abby, Julie, Russell and Eve.)
“I thought nothing was wrong,” the 11-year-old’s statement read. “I felt ‘happy,’ but I really wasn’t. When I started getting older, I realized the YouTube channel had ruined my childhood. But at least I got some money, right? Oh, right, I actually didn’t, because my mom withdrew all of it in 2023. I worked hard for that money. I acted like someone I wasn’t in front of the camera, and I earned that money. But I feel like my mom used me for money.”
Her statement continued, “You all might be saying right now that my dad told me to say these things, and is using me, but that is not true. If anyone is using their kids, it’s the YouTubers filming them for money.”
Ruby Franke, Jodi Hildebrandt's Friendship Timeline Amid Child Abuse Arrest
Kevin was at the committee meeting in support of a state bill that would financially protect child influencers and the earnings they make via their parents’ content. The bill would require online creators earning more than $150,000 annually from content featuring children to set aside a portion of the earnings into a trust the children can access when they turn 18.
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“I know I am stuck with the trauma of YouTube,” the child’s statement continued. “Even now, I can barely make friends, because my whole life I was the center of attention. But now, without even realizing it, I seek attention from others, or I feel like they don’t like me. Then those people think I’m mean.”
She added that she hoped the bill would keep “the children of Utah more safe,” adding that she knows “more than anything” about “the horrible situation that a lot of kids are in right now.”
Kevin also read a statement from his 16-year-old daughter, who noted that “as kids, you don’t realize what you’re subjected to” when discussing being front and center on her mother’s YouTube channel.
Ruby Franke's Daughter Condemns Lifetime Movie About Family: 'Trash'
Ruby was convicted of child abuse and sentenced to four consecutive prison terms in February 2024, which range from one to 15 years each.
“You’re selling your life, your privacy, your body and stories to the entire world,” the 16-year-old’s statement continued. “And as a child, you’re involuntarily giving up all of that. You’re selling your childhood. Though there is no amount of money that can make up for that loss, the least that can be done now is making sure the child is getting paid for her work and has the right to remove it and walk away if she wants to.”
Zelensky says he's "ready" to resign as president if it brings peace or Ukraine joins NATO
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday he's "ready" to "give up" his leadership in exchange for peace in his nation or Kyiv becoming a member of NATO.
The big picture: Zelensky made the comments on the eve of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine as U.S. and Russian officials hold talks on the war ahead of a possible summit between President Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
What he's saying: "If to achieve peace you really need me to give up my post — I'm ready," said Zelensky, who was democratically elected in 2019, in response to a question during a briefing Sunday.
- "I can trade it for NATO membership, if there are such conditions," he added.
- Zelensky shrugged off Trump's claims that that Ukraine's leader is "a dictator without elections" — in reference to Kyiv postponing going to the polls in 2024.
- "I wasn't offended, but a dictator would be," Zelensky said. "I am focused on Ukraine's security today, not in 20 years, I am not going to be in power for decades."
Context: Ukraine's Constitution "does not allow national elections during martial law, which was introduced in 2022 and remains in place" due to Russia's war on Ukraine, per the Atlantic Council think-tank.
Between the lines: Ukraine's possible membership of NATO has been a source of tension between the country and Russia for years.
- Putin used the matter in part to try and justify his forces' invasion of Ukraine, while Zelensky sees NATO membership as an essential guarantee of his country's long-term security.
- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has said Ukraine joining NATO would not be a "realistic outcome of a negotiated settlement" with Russia.
Go deeper: Trump puts Ukraine in a vise
Editor's note: This article has been updated with further context.
The Department of Defense is publicly telling staff to ignore the DOGE team's 'what did you do last week' email requests
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
- The Pentagon is telling employees to "pause any response" to DOGE's request for a work report.
- Federal employees were told this weekend to list five tasks they achieved last week by Monday night.
- But the Defense Department has instead said it would be the authority to review its employees.
The Pentagon is the first major federal agency to publicly tell employees to hold off on responding to an instruction from the White House DOGE office to list their work accomplishments.
"For now, please pause any response to the OPM email titled 'What did you do last week,'" the Defense Department wrote in a statement to civilian employees that was posted online on Sunday.
"The Department of Defense is responsible for reviewing the performance of its personnel and it will conduct any review in accordance with its own procedures," said the statement, posted on behalf of Darin S. Selnick, the acting defense undersecretary for personnel and readiness.
It added that the Pentagon would handle responses to the email request.
Selnick was referring to an email sent through the Office of Personnel Management, which asked federal employees to respond by 11:59 p.m. EST on Monday with five tasks or accomplishments that they achieved over the last week.
"Please do not send any classified information, links, or attachments," said the DOGE email, which was sent to employees in federal agencies across the US.
It came just after President Donald Trump publicly wrote on Saturday that he wanted Elon Musk to "get more aggressive" in cutting workers and expenses from the federal bureaucracy.
Musk, who oversees the DOGE team, also announced the email on social media and said that a "failure to respond will be taken as a resignation."
The Defense Department did not respond to a request for comment sent by Business Insider outside regular business hours.
Staffers at other security-related government departments — including the Department of Homeland Security, National Security Agency, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence — did not respond to BI's requests for comment.
Representatives for the State Department and the FBI declined to comment on the DOGE emails.