For all the public squabbling between Ozzy Osbourne and Bill Ward over the past few years, the former Black Sabbath drummer maintains that he holds no grudges toward anybody. In a new interview, he even defended those who have been attacking him on social media.

“All the Ozzy fans f—ing hate me,” he told Classic Rock Revisited. “We are very concerned about the people who dislike me, but they have every right to dislike me. I actually support them in their right to dislike me and they are entitled to their opinions. I don’t necessarily agree with them that I am an a—hole, but if they want to call me an a—hole, I will support their right to do that. I’ve got no axe to grind with anybody. I am at peace in this.”

After a cooling-off period, Ward resurfaced last month to promote his new album, Accountable Beasts. He said that he would be willing to return to Black Sabbath, but only if Osbourne apologizes for his previous statements about him being out of shape, and if Ward is given a contract whose terms are far superior to the one he refused to sign in 2012.

Osbourne responded by telling Ward to stop "playing the victim and be honest with yourself and our fans.” Ward insists that he wasn’t trying to restart the feud, but rather begin the peace talks.

“It was a real olive branch, not a pie in the sky olive branch,” he continued. “I gave exact specifications of what would put me back in the band. I don’t f— around, you know. You want me back in the band? Then make a public apology about the things that you said about me that weren’t true. That’s the first thing. The next thing is give me a signable f—ing contract. This contract isn’t the Rockefeller of all Rockefeller contracts. I just want something that is decent and fair and what every other person on earth who is playing rock 'n' roll would want.”

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