Sharon Osbourne Fires Back At First Black Sabbath’s Manager Jim Simpson, Alleges His Partners Are Millions In Debt

The public feud between Sharon Osbourne and Black Sabbath’s first manager, Jim Simpson, has escalated, with Osbourne releasing a lengthy, detailed statement firing back at Simpson’s recent press release and attacking the “dubious” integrity of his business partners.

The dispute began earlier this week on “The Osbournes Podcast,” where Sharon warned fans not to purchase Earth: The Legendary Lost Tapes—a collection of 1969 demos from the pre-Black Sabbath band Earth, featuring Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Bill Ward. Simpson, who funded the original recordings, responded yesterday, calling Sharon’s claims “inaccurate and unfair” and stating that he had offered the band royalties.

Today, November 15, Sharon Osbourne posted a new, extensive response on her social media. She not only defended her legal position but also launched a full-scale assault on the business credentials of Simpson and his associates, alleging they are deep in debt.

Sharon Osbourne‘s full statement is as follows:

“In response to Jim Simpson‘s press release of 14 November 2025, I am enclosing his original email to Tony Iommi and my subsequent emails to Mr. Simpson. As you can see, my emails to Mr. Simpson were not threatening. I was clearly stating the facts about Black Sabbath‘s legal position.

“Regarding his claim that Big Bear Records is the ‘longest-running independent record label in the UK’, this is a false claim. ‘Topic Records‘ is a British folk music label. It began as an offshoot of the Workers’ Music Association in 1939, making it the oldest independent record label in the world. It still operates today. Big Bear is not even a Limited company and does not file open accounts in public.

“Simpson also states that he is ‘….in the process of relaunching Big Bear Records in a new distribution partnership with Trapeze Music & Entertainment Ltd (director being John Cooper),a well-established company with a huge catalogue including the likes of Johnny Cash, Buddy Holly, Marlene Dietrich, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Digby Fairweather and hundreds of other artists. I seriously doubt that the artists he mentions, or their estates, would have authorized them to be sold in the USA.

“Let it be known that Trapeze Music is an ‘out-of-copyright’ UK based label that is in debt for £539,000 and the entertainment division is in debt for £1.442 million. A previous entity under the Trapeze banner, with the director, (being John Cooper),was Discovery Records Limited, which went into liquidation in 2018 with an estimated deficiency of £1,407,388. These artist recordings he mentions appear NOT to be out of copyright in the USA, but Trapeze sells through a us domestic import distributor called MVD who they claim inadvertently put the Black Sabbath recordings online digitally in the USA and then quickly withdraw them when Simpson’s lawyers were told the Black Sabbath material is not out of copyright, despite the fact they had agreed not to release them to the public without giving us 14 days prior notice. A full legal opinion from Kings Council was provided to their UK lawyer. Trapeze‘s owner previously ran several companies that ended up in bankruptcy.

“We would never have allowed any Black Sabbath product to be released through Big Bear Records or Trapeze Music, and at no time did Simpson ever offer the band royalties, and he has continuously refused to let Black Sabbath hear the recordings that he claims are his. Their integrity is dubious.

“In closing, Mr. Simpson may claim that he invited me to have coffee with him on 4 July 2025 but I was out of contact which he well knew as I was at Villa Park at soundcheck all day, and I later heard that Mr. Simpson was busy that day doing a Q&A about his time managing Black Sabbath from ’68-’70 at a pub called ‘Ye Olde Foundry’ in Dudley for personal commercial gain.”

Sharon‘s statement directly contradicts Simpson’s claims from the previous day. Where Simpson stated he offered the band royalties, Sharon claims he “at no time” did so. Where Simpson defended his label partner Trapeze Music, Sharon alleges the company and its associated entities are financially unstable and in millions of pounds of debt.

The statement also confirms the core legal issue: Osbourne maintains the Earth recordings are not out of copyright in the United States and has provided a legal opinion to Simpson’s lawyers to that effect, preventing the release.

In his November 14 press release, Simpson had maintained he was the legal owner of the tapes, that he approached the band about the release in September 2024, and that his “reason for launching this album now is because it will become a crucial segment of music history.” He also stated he was “delighted to discuss” a deal with the Osbourne camp, an offer Sharon dismissed in her post as disingenuous.