Understanding Courtney Love’s public battle with The Osbournes
Courtney Love has been villainised for 30 years, and much of that criticism is unfair. The public backlash has taken an immeasurable toll on the Hole singer, and her run-in with the Osbournes is another example of Love being attacked in plain view of the watching world.
Love’s problems with addiction have been well-documented, and in the early 2000s, she was in an extremely dark place. Her substance problems led to issues with the law, and she was sentenced to a 28-day lockdown rehab programme in 2005. Since that moment, Love has continued her struggle with addiction, which is a constant and everyday battle.
Her feud with the Osbourne family began in 2007, shortly after Sharon blamed Love for being the reason why her son, Jack, became hooked on prescription drugs. Jack had previously been friendly with the Hole singer thanks to his former girlfriend and Kurt Cobain’s half-sister, Brianne O’Connor. Love even appeared in an episode of The Osbournes called A Little Ditty About Jack and Brianne.
Jack was only a teenager when he needed to visit a medical facility in order to deal with his addiction to OxyContin, and his mother portions the blame directly on the shoulders of Love. Discussing the topic in 2007, she said: “I will never have time for Courtney Love. She was the first person to give my son Jack the prescription drug OxyContin. There’s not a shadow of doubt in my mind about that. My dislike towards her is very personal.”
In response, an outraged Love refuted the claims made by Osbourne and said she’d never do such a thing. “I never did that. I would never give drugs to a teenager. Fuck you, Sharon – as if I would ever give drugs to a teenager,” she claimed.
The public war of words continued when Osbourne brutally responded: “I’m glad [Courtney Love] doesn’t like me. I only pity her. She’s a virus. I don’t want her anywhere near people I love. The cold hard fact is she’s a has-been.”
The feud was later revived in 2011 when Kelly Osbourne appeared on Fashion Police with Joan Rivers on E. Love’s name was brought up during their conversation, and Kelly referred to the Hole vocalist as a “crackhead”, which caused the two to have a Twitter spat. During their argument, Love claimed she’d saved Kelly’s life on two occasions. Incidentally, years earlier, Love had also been in a similarly uncompromising position and had her life saved by Johnny Depp.
In a now-deleted post, Love wrote: “Kelly knows I’m sober, Kelly knows there’s no drugs allowed at my house, I think it’s really lame. I’ve saved her life twice. I’ve done CPR, I’ve put things in her boobs. Oxycontin, cocaine, foaming at the mouth.”
Of course, it is understandable that Sharon Osbourne feels so strongly on the topic, given that her son’s health was in danger. However, placing the blame squarely at the feet of Love feels unnecessary. We’ll never know the specific truth surrounding the topic, and, in reality, it is not our business to either. It goes without saying, the matter should have been dealt with privately.
