Inside Which Ozzy Osbourne ‘The Dirt’ Moments Were Real — and Which Were Exaggerated

As one of the most celebrated names in music history, Ozzy Osbourne has been making headlines for a long time. The “Prince of Darkness” and Black Sabbath frontman is well-known for his legendary excesses, including a drug habit that has been written about many times over. These days, Osbourne is still going strong, although he has been dealing with many health struggles. While Osbourne has been open about his past drug abuse, some things involving the rocker have been exaggerated over time. Notably, some scenes involving Osbourne in the 2019 music biopic The Dirt were said to be very over-the-top. 

Ozzy Osbourne was portrayed in the movie ‘The Dirt’

The 2019 film The Dirt made headlines when it was released. A biopic of the famed rock band Mötley Crüe, The Dirt featured cameos from a number of other rock stars who were prominent in the ’70s and ’80s — including Ozzy Osbourne, portrayed in the film by Tony Cavalero.

According to IMDb, the film features a number of scenes designed to highlight Osbourne’s rather legendary drug use. This includes one memorable scene in which Osbourne snorts ants through a straw rather than cocaine.

Although Osbourne has been open about his drug use over the years, The Dirt took a few liberties with history, especially when it came to Osbourne’s scenes. In a 2021 interview with Osbourne’s former guitarist, the musician clarified a few of the movie’s most outrageous scenes.

Which moments in ‘The Dirt’ were exaggerated?

In a 2021 interview with former Osbourne guitarist Jake E. Lee, he revealed that some of the scenes in The Dirt didn’t exactly happen the way the movie outlined them. “I was there, and I never saw ants,” Lee said, as reported by Ultimate Classic Rock.

But Osbourne did snort something. “I was right there. He snorted a little spider. There was not a trail of f****** ants there. Tommy (Lee) says it, Nikki says it, Ozzy says it – they were f***** up. I was not. … I don’t care what the other guys say – there was no ants.”

The musician did note that the scene that depicted Osbourne drinking his own pee at a hotel swimming pool did, in fact, occur. “They were in the swimming pool, and they kind of raced, and, of course, Ozzy lost,” Lee recalled. “And (then) a push-up contest, and, of course, Ozzy lost. Ozzy was getting tired of losing, and he stepped it up.”

Lee also recalled that Osbourne’s pee was “lime green,” and that the whole incident horrified him enough to make him eventually leave the pool area where the pee-drinking was taking place.

What has Ozzy Osbourne said about his past?

Osbourne himself has been very candid about his past drug use, admitting that he has battled his addictions to drugs and alcohol consistently throughout his life. In an interview with Variety, Osbourne said that fame made it more challenging to get sober due to the paparazzi and relentless interest from the outside world.

“The thing is people call it a disease, but if you had cancer, people wouldn’t climb over trees and take a photo of you in your bed,” Osbourne said, as reported by Outsider. “Yet they do when you’re in rehab.”

These days, Osbourne is transparent about his struggles in hopes that he can help other musicians see the light. “All I can say is, I’m 72 years of age. Most of the people that I drank with are dead. And the ones that aren’t, that still continue to drink, are going to be dead soon,” the famously outrageous musician said.