The story of Ozzy Osbourne snorting ants has been told many times, most famously in Motley Crue’s infamous biopic The dirt.
Although fans – and his manager and wife Sharon – now doubt that the prank actually happened, Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee reflected on the incident during a recent appearance on “This Past Weekend With Theo Von” and insisted that it was “totally true.”
In 1984, Lee’s band Motley Crue and The Prince Of Darkness were on tour. They were staying together in a hotel and indulging in what can only be described as uncontrolled rock star excesses.
During their tour stop, the two bands, undoubtedly under the influence of large amounts of drugs and alcohol, competed to see who could pull off the most outrageous prank.
Lee emphasizes the credibility of the story, continuing: “I know people ask that all the time. They’re like, ‘Dude, seriously?’ I absolutely say that. You can’t make that shit up.”
He says: “Back then, that was just the way it was – everyone was trying to be a better rock star and make more money than someone else, and party better.”
Recalling the moment when the star allegedly shoved bugs up his nose, the drummer explains: “So Ozzy’s all knackered. He sees a little trail of ants leading up to this kid’s popsicle that he left on the ground. And Ozzy looks down and just fucking snorts out the trail of ants leading up to the popsicle.
“And Nikki (Sixx) is like, ‘Okay. Screw it.’ So Nikki takes his dick out by the pool. It’s a hotel. It was like the Four Seasons (hotel), I think, in Dallas. And (there were) people, kids, everything. Nikki is like, ‘Screw it. Watch it.’ Nikki pees on the floor and Nikki licks up his own piss to outdo Ozzy. And before Nikki can do it, Ozzy fucking beats him to it and licks up his piss. And we’re like, ‘All right, Ozzy. You win. You win, dude.'”
When we talk about what prank Ozzy played next, Lee reveals that things took an even worse turn after his bandmates left.
“I said, ‘Come on, Ozz. We’re getting kicked out (of the pool). I’m going to take you to your room,'” he recalls. “We get in the elevator. We go up and there are people in the damn elevator.”
“He pulls his pants down and just starts fucking (pounding hard),” Lee recalled. “He’s shitting. I’m like, ‘Ozzy, dude. No! Shit! Dude, no.'”
Although Lee manages to stop Ozzy from doing his business in the elevator with the, er, lovers, the “Sabbath” star continues his work in his room, unfortunately far away from a toilet.
“I say, ‘OK, buddy. See you later,'” Lee says. “And he says, ‘Come here.’ I say, ‘I’m going now.’ He says, ‘No, you come here.’ I go in and now he’s done. He just starts shitting in the middle of the room. He bends down, picks it up and starts painting the walls with his shit. I say, ‘I’ve got to go, buddy.’ And I took off.”
Last year, Sharon Osbourne refuted the ant-snorting story in an episode of The Osbournes Podcast, suggesting that the anecdote may have been fabricated to promote the 2019 Mötley Crüe film.
“I wasn’t there, thank God. I always tried to stay away from Mötley (Crüe) when they were with Ozzy,” she said. “And I don’t know. I really don’t know.”
“All I know is that they thought it was what made their film, and I want to know why – now we’re on topic – why, when they promoted their film on Netflix, there was a picture of a guy imitating Ozzy? Why isn’t there a picture of Mötley Crüe in the ad campaign? Why is it a picture of your dad?!”
