Forgive our cynicism, but we have noticed that every time Sharon Osbourne needs publicity, she finds a way to exploit some dubious story from her own life. In the latest example, the Associated Press reports that Sharon, the matriarch of MTV's The Osbournes, claims to have left her husband, burned-out rock godfather Ozzy Osbourne, this spring -- at the time that their son Jack checked into a rehab clinic.

ADVERTISEMENT
According to Sharon's interview with ABC's Barbara Walters, to be aired on the network's 20/20, she demanded that Ozzy stop his own alcohol and drug abuse while Jack was waiting to check in to the clinic, but he refused. She then left for a few days and only returned when Ozzy proved he was serious about stopping his drinking and drugging (or, at least, proved he was as serious as Ozzy is capable of being in his current condition).

Why tell this story now? Well, Sharon's new daytime TV talk show is scheduled to debut this week, and rumors have been flying that the show may be a disaster. However, it's difficult to believe that the most-public and most-publicized family in America had a "real" split that no one heard about.

Nevertheless, we wouldn't be surprised if Sharon really did have concerns about Ozzy's continuing substance abuse, which may have been the reason for the problems with Ozzfest and his "singing" in Chicago. After all, without Ozzy, there's no new season of The Osbournes ... and there wouldn't be any Sharon Osbourne talk show, either.

FOLLOW REALITY TV WORLD ON GOOGLE NEWS

SIRLINKSALOT: THE OSBOURNES
THE OSBOURNES MESSAGE BOARDS
THEOSBOURNESSUCKS.COM
MORE THE OSBOURNES NEWS