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  Ozzfest Without Ozzy � Osbournes Sued Over MTV Show.


07-26-02 antiGUY
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Part of this summer�s Ozzfest will be Ozzy-less as the madman of metal and headliner for the tour that bares his name will be taking a three week leave of absence so that he can be by his wife Sharon�s side as she undergoes treatment for Cancer. 

Ozzy will play through this Sunday�s show in Atlanta (July 28) before taking his leave from the annual summer tour. System of a Down will headline in his absence. Reports indicate that Ozzy is tentatively planning to rejoin the tour on August 22nd in Denver. See below for effected Ozzfest Dates. 

In other Ozzy news, a producer filed a lawsuit against Ozzy and his wife Sharon, claiming he was the one who came up with the idea of filming the family for a reality TV show. (Like it was an original idea, wow reality TV? What a concept?) 

According to the Associated Press, �Plaintiff Gary Binkow said he met on several occasions with the couple and executives from Miramax TV between 1999 and 2000  to discuss ``a real-life docu-sitcom'' about their family, according to the suit filed Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court.

�The court papers include what Binkow said was a copy of his original treatment of the proposed series from January 2000, registered with the Writers Guild of America, The Hollywood Reporter reported Friday.

�The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages for breach of contract and fraud.�

The network that ended up airing the show, MTV, was not named in the lawsuit. 

Binkow is the executive producer a movie that is currently being filmed in London called �Neverland�, which stars Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet. A spokesperson for the Osbournes dismissed Binkow�s claims pointing to previous press reports that show that Binkow was the not the originator or creator of the show. 

Ozzy-less Ozzfest Dates:

8/03 - Columbus, OH - Polaris Amph.
8/04 - Cleveland, OH - Blossom Music Center
8/07 - Clarkston, MI - DTE Energy Center
8/08 - Clarkston, MI - DTE Energy Center
8/10 - Chicago, IL - Tweeter Center
8/11 - East Troy, WI - Alpine Valley
8/13 - Indianapolis, IN - Verizon Amph
8/17 - Somerset, WI - Float-Rite Park
8/19 - St. Louis, MO - Riverport Amph.
8/20 - Kansas City, MO - Sandstone Amph

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